If this is filler then it's the best filler in a while. So much stuff here! So many bands signed, the Band on the Run musical reminds me of the American Idiot and Jagged Little Pill musicals. The box set being released, the Shrek cameos! Such an ingenious way to involve the Fab Four. The convo between Brian and George warmed my heart and nice job noting how Apple has sorta become the very thing they couldn't stand. Something tells me that George is going to meet his fate as he did IOTL. I assume photos and a compilation album will be coming soon, and I can't wait. As for favorite 90s albums, I would rank it in order as Flaming Pie, Doll's House and Cloud Nine.Well then, its time for another update which takes up into the year 2000! Now then, as many of you might be aware of, this TL has been nominated for best Pop Culture TL on here and as of writing is currently sitting at second place though is a wee bit behind and with the voting ending by this Saturday, it could be a close run contest. However, for those who have voted for this TL, thank you all so much for sticking with me and if you haven't voted yet, please do so. Now without more to say, lets get started on with a new century!
Start Of A Century
Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
The YT2 fear of the world ending the moment the year 2000 started never materialised. Instead, much of the world celebrated for what was to be a brave new century that no one really knew what lay ahead though the same couldn’t be said for The Beatles. The near death of George Harrison following a brutal stabbing attacking in his own home had shaken the rest of the band like nothing had before, not since John Lennon had his own near assassination attempt from over a decade ago and the start of the new century wasn’t anything Beatles related as all four would keep a low profile. Indeed, such was a lack of them into the new year that that they all might have as well fallen off the face of the Earth and some would even then make a rather foreboding set of predictions that while the 20th century certainly belonged to The Beatles, the new 21st century was going to cast down The Beatles into the sands of time and with no new album or tour being even hinted at, once could say that there was no place left for The Beatles in the year 2000.
When some of the band did make an appearance during the early part of the year, they would end up helping up more of Apple’s younger talent to help boost the record label in which for an example, a still Hermit minded Harrison would raise a few eyebrows when he would invite the band Nirvana over to his home studio FPSHOT to record their next album with Harrison helping to produce it along with his son Dhani, himself a follower of the band and was delighted to work with them. The idea that the more spiritual minded Harrison would work with Nirvana, a band whose style of music was a universe away from what the quiet Beatle had ever done in his whole career was perhaps the most unlikely meeting of musical talent ever assembled yet both parties got on well with each other. Kurt Cobain and Harrison would share a dark sense of humour that would see them get on quite well, while not as close as the relation both Cobain and Harrison had, it seemed both men had some common ground to chat about their view on the world.
Indeed, the two unlikely sides would get along that well that Harrison would, in his typical manner of handing things over like guitars or songs to close friends, he would give Nirvana the title of their new album to be called Your Planet Is Doomed – Volume One [1] which had been a proposed title he had joked for his own previous album and upon hearing that they too had that dark humour like him, Cobain especially, they would adopt that title for their upcoming album. It also meant that Nirvana were the first musical act to work with any Beatle for the new century though it was fair to say that this fact was not picked up on and instead, some critics who were left baffled at the unlikely team up felt that following his stabbing incident that Harrison was suffering from a midlife crises and that he was trying to ‘get hip’ by working with Nirvana.
A fact that given how Harrison would always be the one who would not follow trends seemed like a ludicrous comment to make. That said though, Harrison would over the passing weeks and months that the attack would quite literally leave a mark on him in which part of his puncture lung had been removed and it would be here that the first signs of his cancer returning would start to feel likely. Did he feel deep down that his time was nearing its end? Maybe, but he would downplay all these questions and just focus on current events. As of a result, Harrison was not the only Beatle who was keeping himself busy for that same year too, Paul McCartney would be dipping his hand in some alternative styles in which he would release the album Liverpool Sound Collage, an album credited to The Beatles, Super Furry Animals and Youth; but because McCartney was so heavily involved in its creation, in addition to his production credit, Liverpool Sound Collage is filed under his name [2].
At the same time too, John Lennon was keeping an eye out on what was going on with Apple's Film division and of the certain massive filming project taking place in New Zealand which of course would be the trilogy for The Lord Of The Rings. Being a fan of the original books and knowing how much would be riding on these collection of films, he would be often passing over notes whenever he would see daily rushes to the point in which by now he had become something of an executive producer for the trilogy by accident. Not that he was honestly bothered by that fact, in many ways he seemed to actual enjoy his unexpected position and that there was a sense of satisfaction that knowing many years ago how The Beatles had tried and failed to make a Lord Of The Rings movie back in the early days of Apple Corps was that now after nearly 30 years, Apple would get to make its planned filmed based on JRR Tolkien's work in a far greater way than previously thought. Speaking of films, Ringo Starr had been keeping himself busy too in which he would keep his acting career going in which that year he would be brought in for voice work on one certain animated movie from Apple that would, after a suggestion from the head of Apple Animation Jeffery Katzenberg, bring back The Beatles again in perhaps the most unlikely way possible.
---------Even though Sir Brian Epstein had reached the retirement age of 65 years old, he was a driven man who had no plans to step down anytime soon and given with all that he had on his plate with the construction of Apple World USA very much deep into its progress as well as the now sudden possibility of having a fourth Apple park to be built in which talks for the acquisition of Wonderland Sydney had been very positive in the hope that Apple World Australia could be a possibility in the not too distant future and that wasn't even talking about how things had been going on the Apple music label. Just prior before the new year, Apple Records had signed another group from Liverpool which would be the girl group Atomic Kitten and had released their debut record most recently, Another three acts signed most recently were Scottish band Travis who had been happy to leave their then current record deal and the other act with fellow Scottish act Snow Patrol also joining them on the Apple label and the other musical act would be Welsh band Stereophonics in which having been signed prior before their debut album in which Epstein had been shrewd to keep faith with them had been rewarded with their own successful debut album.
Extract from 'Epstein's Empire: The Story Of Apple Corps' by Jake O'Connell
Even across the pond in America, Epstein's fingerprints on the music industry just seemed to keep on spreading in which he would raise a few eyebrows in which he would rubber stamp the approval of signing on then up and coming musical star Idina Menzel following her being let go off previous record label Hollywood Records following rather lacklustre sales of her own album yet there was a feeling of potential that could be had should she be signed with Apple and with hindsight, a rewarding choice given how she would become well known for her Broadway success but that's another story. In contrast to her, Apple Records was willing to try its hand at going into over avenues in which American rock band Blink-182 would be the first American band to be signed on for the new Millennium and following them being tempted away from their current record deal in favour of a more lucrative one with Apple, they would plan to release their third album under the Apple umbrella.
When one added those more recent names to the rest of the Apple Records family starting all the way back from The Beatles, Elton John, Queen and Aerosmith just to name a few, it was said that Apple had without question one of the most stacked musical line-ups for any record label and was in all honesty the envy of much of the music industry proving to everyone once and for all that Apple was far more than just a tool meant for The Beatles' output but rather that it was a business that had grown into becoming one of the largest media empires in the world and a far cry from its hippy origins in which was hoped to be used a way of avoiding paying tax. Ironically, the Apple Corps of 2000 was a totally unrecognisable Goliath than what had been created in which now the very thing they had avoided doing was now something that had to do being such a large company that they couldn't hide from this any longer.
Epstein would feel a little bittersweet in which the company he had helped to get to this point had now started to become very much like a corporation like nearly everything else was in the world in which the only thing that seemed to separate Apple Corps from the likes of everything else like Disney, Sony, Universal or Warner Bros. was that Apple would be happy to have artists with as much creative control as possible but it was just a drop in the ocean all things considered. Nonetheless despite any regrets he might have felt, Epstein had felt that he had done it all and had lived a good life. At this point, anyone in his position would have likely wanted to walk off into the sunset onwards for retirement but Epstein still always felt that there was something left untapped and it was during last year that Epstein would go to the West End to see a new musical that had opened up called Mamma Mia!, a musical with an original story yet used the songs of ABBA in which would kick start what would be known as the 'Jukebox Musical' that was to play a magic part in the world of musical theatre over the next few years.
While the musical wasn't entirely Epstein's cup of tea, it did get him thinking on project he had been thinking about for many years now. Epstein was one that would like going to the theatre a lot and his mind had always casted back to The Beatles' 1973 mega masterpiece Band On The Run in which had been done with a concert album in mind, along with its own mini comic which gave a story for that album about the said band on the run with Epstein always imagining that if done right could have the potential of becoming a musical playing on either the West End or Broadway yet for various reasons, the idea never really got far. With the start of the boom period of the Jukebox Musical with others planning to be done such as one based on the work of Queen [3] already in the works, the time felt right to ride this crest of a wave to bring back the idea of turning Band On The Run into a theatrical musical.
While the surviving members of Queen were happy with the idea of their songs being part of a musical, The Beatles were more lukewarm to the idea in which Lennon would famously state that he thought the idea sounded 'gimmicky as hell and it would blend into the background of other jukebox musicals that were to dominate musical theatre. However, Epstein would point out that since Band On The Run had also been a concept album with its own storyline to begin with and all that they would be doing was simply adapting that storyline to the stage to the point where one could argue if this musical could be considered a Jukebox musical. After some more convincing from Epstein, the rest of the band would reluctantly accept the idea though still had no clue what they were getting themselves in for though it would lead to the newest entertainment arm of Apple Corps in what would be known as Apple Theatre in which would overlook any live musical theatre setting involving any work involving music from an Apple artist though it would be a few more years before that arm of the company would take effect but that is another story. For now, Apple Corps kept moving into the new century...
---------As it would come about, 2000 would see the release of two animated feature films in which that Christmas would see the release of the animated adaption of Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat which while didn't quite do well as commercially as Cats had done the previous year, it did well enough to green light work on the adaptation of Starlight Express though the year would mark a great success of one animated movie from Apple that wasn't 2D or 3D but stop motion and that film was of course Chicken Run which would not only be a critical and commercial hit but would become the highest grossing stop motion movie of all time and all in all a victory for Apple's growing animation wing. However behind the scenes, it was on working their upcoming animated release for the following year, Shrek, that would be the one that would be the unlikely film that would bring The Beatles together in one of the most hilarious ways possible as a true pot shot at Disney.
Extract from 'A History Of Apple Films' by Ryan Parker
After the poor testing screening in which had forced the film into a tried a tested 2D format following how Sir Brian Epstein had been left deeply unimpressed by the CGI he along with the rest of the Apple board had witnessed, work on the film had gone along steadily and by the year 2000, Shrek was finally starting to take shape though it was a far cry from the original story it had been based on. The film would still be about an ogre called Shrek though it would be about him finding his home in the swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by the obsessive ruler Lord Farquaad though Shrek makes a pact with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona with the help of Donkey in exchange for regaining control of his swamp. The film itself would parody many fairy tale adaptations though mostly aimed at Disney in which Katzenberg, still with a bitter edge regarding his firing from Disney, had much of his influence in this film with even the villain himself Farquaad being a caricature of then Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
It would be that during the scene in the film in which the fairy tale creatures are being banished in which the likes of Pinocchio and the Three Bears are seen being casted out and that the audience are introduced to Donkey that Katzenberg would have an idea that not only would be a good slap in the face for Disney but a way of having The Beatles all appearing in a cameo role in the film that would see them fit in along with the rest of the fairy tale creatures. Have The Beatles play themselves as Vultures. For anyone in the know, the 1967 animated Disney version of The Jungle Book had a group of four vultures who all bare a physical and vocal resemblance to The Beatles, including the signature mop-top haircut. It had been hoped at the time that Walt Disney could have The Beatles themselves to voice the characters but Lennon at the time didn't want any part of the idea was dropped.
However, things had changed in which Lennon was a little more confident in staring in movies and upon hearing the proposal from Katzenberg of how he wanted to have a parody of the Vultures in Shrek, he loved the idea and soon the rest of the band would all get behind for the extended cameo sequence in which while Lennon would record dialogue with both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Harrison would remain at Friar Park in which he would record his one line of dialogue from the comfort of his home studio. The scene in question would be in which when Donkey's owner is trying to sell him to make money as part of the banishment of fairy tale creatures [4], four chained up vultures are led up to be decided their fate by a mean lord in which the four vultures, all with all certain having characteristics to each Beatle such as one Vulture having Lennon's glasses, are trying to plead their innocence in which the Ringo Starr vulture is taking the lead saying that they are just entertainers who were 'mugged while doing a gig in broad daylight' but the lord doesn't seem to care and that since they are talking animals, they fall under being fairy tale creatures and orders them to sent to a nearby cage to await their fate.
In the moment, the Lennon and McCartney vultures starting arguing with each other over who is to blame with the Lennon vulture blaming the McCartney vulture that, 'if they hadn't played his lousy song this wouldn't have happened to them' in with the latter retorts otherwise and the two get into a fight in which slouching up behind them, the Harrison vulture bemoans asking in a snarky way, 'why couldn't they have played any of my songs?' It might have been just a glorified cameo but it is a little gem of a scene that is a nutshell of creative problems the band had during the late 60s and the thought of seeing The Beatles in a animated film would be perhaps one of the biggest ironic full circle moments in animation history in which The Beatles would be voicing a group of vultures that from many years ago were a parody of them and that now they would be a parody of those vultures from The Jungle Book. One couldn't make this up.
It would be another year until the film would be released and there was no guarantee that the scene would remain in the film though given how they had managed to get all four Beatles to voice in the film, who would want to cut it out? The scene itself as funny as it is would be with hindsight be also seen as bittersweet as that little moment itself would be actually the last time that all four Beatles would star together in a film.
---------Though at first it didn't like anyone might be seeing anything Beatles related at first, much of the world was to get a treat in which for the first time ever, all six Beatles films being A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, Rockshow and A Hard Night's Day would be released on DVD as part of a Beatles saga boxset all fully remastered and must have for any Beatles fan though there was some controversy that the concert film Rockshow had been added to a collection of actual feature films in which many felt it was there just to make up the numbers to help make up a saga length of films though it did mean that Rockshow would at the very least get a digital remaster for the first time which had been hoped by Beatles fans for years as well as the rest of those films that had only seen VHS releases during the early 1980s. That collection of films would end up being one of the biggest selling collections of DVD's during 2000 but that was not the only Beatles related product released that year.
Extract from 'An Apple Domination: Apple Corps During The 2000's' by Ken McColl
It was however a new compilation album released in time for the summer of 2000 in which would simply be called 1, an major double CD album that would for the first time ever would feature virtually every number-one single the band achieved in the United Kingdom or United States from 1962 to 1997 [5]. 1 would be a commercial success and topped charts worldwide selling over 31 million copies and would become the fourth-best-selling album in the US, the best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the US and ultimately as well as the best-selling album of the decade worldwide proving to many doubters that there was still a place for The Beatles in the year 2000. Indeed, such was the roaring success of that album, as well as the Beatles saga of films in which the idea for perhaps another Beatles album, likely in time to mark the 40th anniversary of their first single in 2002 was floated about. Only question was to try and get The Beatles to agree to it.
----------It is said that only few can get The Beatles together to work on a new product and perhaps to the surprise of no one, Sir Brian Epstein was one of the few who could do this though while he had done this many times before, there was something different about this occasion. In the wake of Harrison's stabbing and with him privately admitting that his health was starting to look poorer, that such an idea of another Beatles album or any musical outing for Harrison seemed out of the question. Nonetheless, Epstein would spend a weekend at the Harrison's Friar Park during the month of May in which the two weren't really talking about future plans but rather having time to reflect in which Olivia Harrison would take a famous photo of both Epstein and Harrison sitting together on the porch overlooking the gardens with Harrison playing one of his many ukuleles that he would have whenever someone came to visit being deep into conversation.
Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
---------We just talked that day and just thought about the so-called 'good old days' as you'd do. It was then George looked over at me and thanked me in which I asked "what'd you talking about?" His response was, "It was all thanks to you that you give me a chance to have more of more songs added to the White Album for if not for you, both Paul and John would have dominated that album that they would have done for every other album before."
Interview of Sir Brian Epstein (2011)
It was then I realised that the ten song rule I had implemented for all Beatles albums from All Things Must Pass onwards which had George, John and Paul all having an equal share of songs on an album had not still been in place after all these years but that it was perhaps the lynchpin that had helped kept the band from breaking up fully. To say that it had worked would be a major understatement and George would thank me for giving him the idea of making While My Guitar Gently Weeps into his version of Yesterday and really that song is a watershed moment in which he did came of age I've said after all these years.
I then asked him, "Have I been a good manager for you guys?" He just smiled at me saying, "Other than been a cheapskate bastard at times, you most certainly were." But then he would then asked me regarding the future of The Beatles as in what was there left to do and in some ways he had a point. They had long since established that they were the world's biggest band, had released many successful albums over the course of three decades, stared in films, created the Anthology project and had moved into other avenues beyond their wildest thoughts. What really was left to be done?
I had to think about it for a while and said, "You're right, there really isn't anything left to be done other than saying goodbye to the fans with one final send off."
I remembered he smirked at me knowing that I was blatantly hinting at another album from them in the near future in which he lowered his head, nodded and didn't say anything for a spell before saying the following. "One more? Yeah...I think that'll do."
At first I should have been happy to hear that he was up to do another Beatles album, but the way he said it did seem to bother me that day. Did he know something was up that he didn't want to tell then? I never knew when I left Friar Park though with hindsight, maybe he knew that he wouldn't have long to live and that maybe he'd never live it down that he had been the one to rob the world of a possible final Beatles album. That moment really would be the true beginning of the end.
[1] This was an album title that Harrison joked about calling OTL's Brainwashed, would like to think that given he was known to pass things around and that he would have done the same here. Plus, that album title does sound like something that Nirvana would have used for an album title IMO.
[2] That album is more or less the same as OTL.
[3] Which you can imagine becomes We Will Rock You like with OTL.
[4] Yes, The Beatles will appear in ITTL's version of Shrek in which they will play the four vultures. Given how the film is a parody of Disney as a whole and that The Beatles are in the Apple family, you could bet your bottom dollar that there would have been a chance to make a parody of the Jungle Book vultures by having The Beatles play them in a cameo one. For those who don't know what scene it is in question they'd be in, its this scene in which you can picture them in.[5] Yes, 1 is still released like OTL though is more more bigger given that there are more number one singles ITTL.
And that is the year 2000, bit of a filler one but is important to set things going forward. Anyway, I forgot to ask this question during the last update in which much like how I asked what was your favourite 1980s Beatles album, what is your ranking of your favourite 1990s Beatles album ITTL and why? Also, if you haven't already, please vote for this TL to win the award for best Pop Culture TL on here and while it might be still a bit of a long shot, every little helps and we should find out, at the time of writing, who wins. So stay tuned for the next update as we go into one of the more darker years for 2001 in which has some obvious reason but also another factor too...until then, see you all for the next update.
The Fingerprints Of Epstein - Yet Another Beatles TL
- Thread starter QTXAdsy
- Start date
If this is filler then it's the best filler in a while. So much stuff here! So many bands signed, the Band on the Run musical reminds me of the American Idiot and Jagged Little Pill musicals. The box set being released, the Shrek cameos! Such an ingenious way to involve the Fab Four. The convo between Brian and George warmed my heart and nice job noting how Apple has sorta become the very thing they couldn't stand. Something tells me that George is going to meet his fate as he did IOTL. I assume photos and a compilation album will be coming soon, and I can't wait. As for favorite 90s albums, I would rank it in order as Flaming Pie, Doll's House and Cloud Nine.
The Endgame Of Beatlemania
Ok then, its time for another new update as we enter 2001. Now before I start, I will say that sadly we didn't win the award for best Pop Culture TL on here but we did come a very respectable second so thank you all who voted plus, with the recent news of Paul McCartney's missing Hofner bass being found, you'll be wondering if something similar happened here that saw his bass going missing? Well, without a 1972 tour which is how the bass went missing in the first place, the Cavern bass never gets stolen so it has a rather boring life ITTL remaining with McCartney after all these years.
So with all that out of the way, lets get going for what will be one of the more sadder updates for good reason as we enter the endgame of this TL...
The Endgame Of Beatlemania
Extract from 'Epstein's Empire: The Story Of Apple Corps' by Jake O'Connell
When it came round for 2001, it was a year that was perhaps one of the most anticipated years for Apple Corps which amazingly at first had very little to do with The Beatles. The main factor of the year was that despite a summer opening later on in the year, work on the new Apple World USA park outside of Houston in Texas had managed to get completed ahead of schedule in which an April opening was soon penned in which the hype on the grand opening of the third Apple theme park would only start to grow a perhaps for good reason. Apple World USA was in a totally different world from its British and Japanese sister parks in which being totally built from scratch and not using a previous failing theme park, it was the largest Apple Park in which while it had all the usual themed areas like the opening Matthew Street entrance, Pepperland area and others along with many attractions, everything about this was just bigger and better in many ways possible.
All of this showed that in just a few years, Apple Corps really were now a main player in the theme park industry and while Apple World UK would remain the flagship park, Apple World USA would be seen as the crown jewel of the parks; in some ways a comparison could be made with Disney in which if Apple World UK was very much like the Disneyland in California then Apple World USA was very much Apple’s answer to Walt Disney World in Florida. On its opening on April 20th 2001, Apple World USA had much riding on it in which while many couldn’t argue with the quality the park had, some within the higher ups in Apple still felt that building the park in Texas rather than in Florida or California was a mistake as the park wouldn’t make the numbers as they would hope for with some fearing that they might have another Euro Disneyland disaster situation with them this time.
Nonetheless, first impressions on opening were all positive in which the park, along with its added hotel accommodation making it a resort complex, all added to make this a truly spectacular theme park. While many celebrities had been invited either from in or out of the Apple family, only Ringo Starr would be the only Beatle to attend the opening and represent the band in which did lead to some in the press to speculate that because of George Harrison’s rumoured condition of his cancer returning and that he would be about to undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs the following month and would be in no fit state to attend and that the others felt it wouldn’t be right if Harrison wouldn’t be part of the grand opening so ultimately it was Ringo Starr who would fly the flag for the band.
With its opening, it seemed that all the fears that Apple World USA might be a failure were unfounded as it seemed that early numbers on the park in its opening few months seemed to point to a good opening year with many saying it was one of the best theme parks ever built and even some saying that had it been built in Florida, it might have not only been able to stand up to the might of Disney and Universal's own theme parks there but maybe even challenge them for domination. With hindsight however, all these glowing stats regarding attendance levels would all prove to be sadly a case of being too good to be true being in the wake of a certain event just a few months later that would shake America and the rest of the world, those figures would take a turn for the worse…
2001 was really the make-or-break year for Apple Films in which while they had made some decent films over the years, there hadn’t been that major blockbuster film that the studio hadn’t tackled before until now which would be the first film of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy being called The Fellowship of The Ring to be released later in the year with it and its two follow-ups in The Two Towers and The Return Of The King all to be filmed in New Zealand. With so much money and reputation on the line, it was fair to say that the higher ups in Apple Corps were having some sleepless nights that failure was something unthinkable that no one dared not think about. While footage that had already been shot and seen by those at Apple Films did all look promising, no one could never be too careful with resting on their laurels.
However, in May that year, those at the top would have a feel good moment in which Apple Animation would strike gold when Shrek was released worldwide grossing over $491 million worldwide, becoming the year's fourth highest-grossing film and, as the old saying goes, the rest is history [1]. Sir Brian Epstein would personally congratulate Jefferey Katzenberg on the film's success in which after all the problems that film had during production, its success felt like a vindication for all of those who had worked on it though it must be said though Katzenberg would had felt this victory to be all the more sweeter for it meant that with Disney being unable to compete following them starting to stumble at the box office after nearly a whole decade of near unprecedented success with their animated films, they now faced a competitor in which was The Beatles' company of all things and Shrek is said to have kicked started the whole genre of 'fractured fairy tales' that .
Speaking of which, all four Beatles would all express how much they loved it with John Lennon admitting how he loved how the film subverted the whole fairy tale storyline and turned it on its head. Of course, no mention of the film could be made about the band's cameo as the four vultures in which the parody basis on their Disney counterparts didn't go unnoticed by many in which some did say that it was a little too much on the nose though it can be said that the film did have a strong Liverpool connection not meaning just The Beatles but also with its lead Mike Myers being that although being Canadian, his parents both so happened to have emigrated years ago from Liverpool meaning in some ways he was much a Liverpudlian much like The Beatles so there was that unlikely camaraderie in there too.
As the cameo scene would have it, the four Vultures would be a band known as The Quarrybirds which was a not too subtle reference to the original band before The Beatles known as The Quarrymen, and that all the vultures would have names that many hardcore Beatles fans would recognised in which Ringo Starr's vulture, the supposed leader of the group in the film, is called Ritchie being a play on his real name of Richard Starkey, Paul McCartney's vulture counterpart would be named Ramon being of course the pseudonym that McCartney used during the early days of the band, George Harrison's vulture was simply called Carl with that being his own pseudonym back in the early days being based on his hero Carl Perkins while finally Lennon's vulture would be simply called Mal which was indeed a reference to their late roadie Mal Evans who had saved Lennon all those years ago and in many ways this was his little tribute to the band's old friend.
Even though they had two scenes with the first being their introduction being thrown away in chains for being fairy-tale creatures for just talking and in an unspoken part during the finale of the film in which they are in attendance at Shrek and Fiona's wedding, it hasn't stopped many fans of the film over the years to make them popular with artwork and fanfictions alike based on these vultures going as far to give them backstories and such all to the point in which the Disney vultures that they were parodying off in the first place have almost been forgotten about which in many was was yet another slap in the face for Disney.
Even then when a sequel was already greenlit the moment Shrek became a hit, Katzenberg had hoped that all going well that he could have all four to return in more expanded roles but alas due to obvious reasons, such an idea never came to be though it is strongly rumoured that in Shrek 2 in which the characters Pinocchio, Gingy, The Three Pigs and The Three Blind Mice appear to rescue Shrek, Donkey and Puss In Boots that it would had been The Quarrybirds doing the rescue instead. While never confirmed, it remains a little piece of what might have been had things been different. Nonetheless with the unlikely success of Shrek, it gave Apple Films more confidence that if the start of the upcoming Lord Of The Rings trilogy was going to be a big hit come the end of the year then surely 2001 was going to be the year that Apple Films would finally enter the blockbuster film market at long last though 2001 would be remembered for an event that the rest of the world would never forget...
Almost at once, all thoughts about work on Driving Rain were halted as both Lennon and McCartney felt a need to do something to help and a day after the attacks, it was here that the two men felt that they needed to do something to help but what? The only thing both men could do was to write a song and this would be how the song Freedom would come about [4]. In the song, the narrator declares freedom to be a, “right given by God,” that he will, “fight for.” The lyrics were thus in seeming contradiction with the anti-war sentiment associated with much Beatles related songs mostly relating to Lennon's political musical output that were all about peace but given what had happened, even this had to be a serious exception to the rule though in a later interview McCartney commented, “to me it’s a ‘We Shall Overcome.’ That’s sort of how I wrote it. It’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve got freedom, I’m an immigrant coming to America, give me your huddled masses.’ And that’s what it means to me, is, ‘Don’t mess with my rights, buddy. Because I’m now free.'”
In the spur of the moment following a brief writing of the song, both men would track down a recording studio to record the track at Quad Studios in New York in which the fast turn around of the song was almost like the early days of The Beatles in which both McCartney and Lennon would have to write songs in a short space of time and this would be one of the rare times in which a Beatles song would be played entirely by both men not done since the days of The Ballad of John and Yoko and Two of Us in which while it technically wasn't a Beatles song, it would later be marked as one purely out of commercial reasons in which was never the idea given what the song was for. As of a result, it would be the unlikely first Beatles song of the new millennium during that October as a single and would be the confirmation that a new Beatles album was due.
The song would have its first performance during The Concert for New York City in October in which both men, along with an all star cast featuring g The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with American artists being represented by Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, The Backstreet Boys, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Melissa Etheridge, Five for Fighting, Goo Goo Dolls, John Mellencamp with Kid Rock in which would take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11th attacks [5]. For as much good intentions that the song had, it has sadly fallen to be one of the 'lesser' Beatles tracks that is rarely talked about though sadly for good reason in which McCartney would say that he felt the the song had been 'hijacked' and had acquired a militaristic meaning with the Bush administration’s Operation Iraqi Freedom that was to follow.
Lennon would in the following years lament this fact as he would look back on the song as nothing more than 'old shame' knowing that it was a song of its time and something that he and Paul had done in the moment for the best intentions and now it only reminded him of the War on Terror that was to follow in the coming years in which Lennon would seriously considering dusting of his political activism to put out his anti-war views on the whole matter but alas by that point, so many were against the war that he didn't feel the need to go out and protest though he wouldn't hide his views on the matter.
Granted, Apple World USA was far from the only theme park in America that was suffering from this problem as the Disney parks too in America would all suffer from a sudden downturn in attendance levels but at the very least those parks did have cash reserves to help get them through a troublesome year, but in the case of Apple World USA, this posed a problem as the park was needing a near perfect trouble-free year in which the more visited the park then it would had been a victory for Apple Corps. However, the 9/11 attacks threw a spanner in the works for the new park as following September, attendance suddenly dropped in which locals from the Houston area would visit the park regularly, the expected large crowd from across the country wouldn't be as big as expected and by the end of the year, attendance levels would be considered a disappointment though nowhere hear flop compared to what happened with Euro Disneyland back a few years ago.
This of course would lead to some members of the press to come out and to call out the park to be 'Epstein's true folly' given that after all the luck he had with the other parks that had opened to great success that it seemed that this was one step too far from him though much of its failures was nothing more than pure fake news at worse. Regardless though, over the next few years, the park would see attendance levels grow to become the successful park that it was always said to become though it was unlikely that such a massive Apple park like Apple World USA would never be built in fear of things backfiring as what Apple World USA nearly might've been though it was just a case an unfortunate set of circumstances that was out of Apple's hands that could never had happened either way. Despite calls to halt on any more Apple Parks to be built, planning was already well underway for the acquisition of Wonderland Sydney by Apple which would be agreed on by the end of the year in which that park would close by Christmas 2001 and would not open until 2004 in which it would be transformed into Apple World Australia but that would be another story...
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Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
Given the 9/11 attacks, it did overshadowed the announcement of the new Beatles album, working title as Beatles 27, which would be announced a fortnight before the attacks took place though it was clear that the album was looking to be the last and for one reason alone...George Harrison and his advancing cancer. Despite his treatment, it was clear that his end was nearing and it was a tragic sight to behold seeing Harrison in this state in which in July, he had been treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in Switzerland and while there, Ringo Starr visited him but had to cut short his stay to travel to Boston, where his daughter was undergoing emergency brain surgery. Harrison, who was very weak, quipped: "Do you want me to come with you?" [6]
He couldn't come of course, but the rest of the band could in which with Harrison still in Switzerland and in no clear state to travel and when he realised it was an irreversible situation, he worked further on the album's songs – in conjunction with his son Dhani and his old collaborator Jeff Lynne being the album's producer as he had been for the last few albums already – for as long as possible. As of a result, it was decided that the rest of The Beatles would record much as what they could with Harrison in Switzerland meaning that Switzerland would become the unlikely final location in which all four Beatles would be with each other for the last time. Though the rest of the band tried their best to ignore about Harrison's condition, it was a emotional draining experience seeing him like this.
Indeed, Lennon would lament that he could barely remember much being done as it was more of a 'stop/start' affair in which Harrison could barely play guitar at times given how weaker he was getting in which by the end of September, only three songs had been recorded, all of which being Harrison songs no less, given how slow things were and the forth song recorded would be Horse To The Water in which would happen on October 2nd in which Harrison was so weak by the point that he could no longer play guitar and was only able to sing [7]. By this point, Sir Brian Epstein who had come to visit realised that with how bad Harrison was in that it was not worth putting him through that so it was reluctantly decided to postpone work on the album with the possibility that the album itself might be cancelled though no one said anything.
Few would know it then, but Horse To The Water would be the final song that all four Beatles would work together on. In November, Harrison would leave Switzerland and headed for America to began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non–small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. However much to his and his close circle's dismay, the news was made public of his treatment in which he never wanted and when it had been made public, Harrison bemoaned his physician's breach of privacy, and his estate later claimed damages. Whatever the reason, it was too late and his time was nearing its end. Late into November, Harrison would move to a property belonging to McCartney, on Heather Road in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles in which he along with his bandmates along with manager Epstein would have a last supper together in which was perhaps the most personal they had all been.
Much of what was said during that final time together has been kept secret by those though it must be noted that Epstein had to excuse himself as his grief was too much for him and he would weep openly knowing that Harrison was about to die; the fact that he was the youngest of the band only made this feel worse for him and in many ways took it far worse than what the rest of the band were taking the moment in which it can be described best as if a parent was losing their child and given how Epstein never had any children, in many ways The Beatles were his boys and now that one was dying was something that Epstein had dared wished he'd never had to experience for as long as he lived. One thing that would come out from the final meeting was that oddly enough, Harrison did see a future for The Beatles without him in it in which he would handpick Eric Clapton to take his place in the band though Clapton did seem to have all the elements to make him join the band as well as being on good terms with the other Beatles even without knowing his longstanding relationship with Harrison, the likes of Lennon, McCartney and Starr were all lukewarm on the idea of Clapton joining the band.
Yes, they all liked him but after all the years the band had been together from since they were teenagers, it seemed too much of a jump to have someone replace a member of the band by this point even if it was someone like Eric Clapton, the loss of Harrison and replacing him with someone else was too much. Indeed, any thoughts of any new music were far from being on the mind of any of them and with that, they would all leave Harrison to be with in the company of wife Olivia, son Dhani, Shankar and the latter's wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka, and Hare Krishna devotees Shyamasundar Das and Mukunda Goswami for the final days of his life. Finally on November 29th, the dreaded day finally came in which George Harrison would pass away in the above's company with his final message to the world, as relayed in a statement by Olivia and Dhani, was: "Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another." [8]
He would be cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and his funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California. His close family scattered his ashes according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers near Varanasi, India. With that. Beatlemania had in the eyes of millions across the world, died for good. Tributes would flood in for Harrison in which at the three Apple parks across the world, the flags all at the front of the parks were lowered at half mast with even the entrances being covered in floral tributes by fans wishing to pay their respects for the fallen Beatle. Liverpool itself would mourn the passing of one of her famous sons and in a public appearance following Harrison's death, Epstein would make an appearance to the press to give his tribute to a man who while being the quiet Beatle had very much been ground-breaking for much of his interests he had brought to The Beatles and how both he and Harrison had grown close over the many years and that there would never be another man like Harrison ever again.
Of course, as typical by much of the press showing how much they even bothered listening to Epstein's emotional tribute, questions would be raised about if the planned new Beatles album was still going to be released or if it was to be cancelled and this would be a question that would follow Epstein, much to his anger over how much the press were trying to milk the whole event, over the next few weeks following Harrison's death and in truth, even he was not sure himself. Could they go on? How would Apple Corps move on without The Beatles who had been the very foundation of the company? It was all very different questions that no one, not even the surviving members of The Beatles knew themselves. Either way, the band would take a hiatus to grief for the loss of their fallen bandmate before coming to an idea of what to do next. Were The Beatles finally dead after over 40 years together? It wouldn't be until February 2002 that the world would get their answer...
[1] Yes, Shrek is pretty much the same film as OTL other than a few changes being that Beatles cameo and that the film is in 2D which has some interesting butterfly effects with animated films going forward ITTL.
[2] That album is, other than a few songs thrown in from OTL's Flaming Pie, mostly the same but has some tweaks thanks to Lennon given a helping hand here.
[3] This actually happened IOTL when McCartney was at JFK airport when he witnessed the attacks taking place so the same happens here ITTL though Lennon is with him.
[4] Yes, that song still happens ITTL though is now a Lennon/McCartney song.
[5] Though show still happens like with OTL though here Lennon is playing too in which given how much he loved New York IOTL, I could see him playing a part in the show.
[6] Sadly exactly what happened with OTL too.
[7] Much like what happened with OTL too though has the rest The Beatles on this track now instead of being for Jools Holland's album like OTL.
[8] His final words as with OTL too.
An update that is the darkest one ITTL for sure for good reason as we all know what happened in 2001. Yes, Harrison meets his OTL fate here in which, as the trope would say, 'Doomed by the Canon' as there are some things in TL's you can't avoid and thus Harrison's fate is one of those. It is indeed a difficult update to write up as I can still remember Harrison's death as my Dad, who's favourite Beatle was always Harrison, was utterly torn up by his death perhaps more so than even Lennon's death so it is something I'll never really forget. It is horrible to write up the dark chapters but you have to do them as nothing can always be sunshine and rainbows always in any TL and this is one of these moments.
Now you are wondering what is next? Well, we are getting near the end of this TL in which we will have a final chapter next week following a photo update the following week and finally after that, an epilogue chapter or rather I should say Eppy-logue given who this TL is about that take us roughly to 2017 and to see what happened then. I will say it really hits home when you know you are nearing the end of writing a TL that has been with you for the best part of a year and I'll be wondering what will I be doing next. But anyway, I'll cross that bridge when it comes so with that said, hope you enjoyed this update and we shall see you in the next update this time next week or maybe sooner depending on how busy I'll be with my personal life so with that all said, I'll see you all next time.
So with all that out of the way, lets get going for what will be one of the more sadder updates for good reason as we enter the endgame of this TL...
The Endgame Of Beatlemania
Extract from 'Epstein's Empire: The Story Of Apple Corps' by Jake O'Connell
When it came round for 2001, it was a year that was perhaps one of the most anticipated years for Apple Corps which amazingly at first had very little to do with The Beatles. The main factor of the year was that despite a summer opening later on in the year, work on the new Apple World USA park outside of Houston in Texas had managed to get completed ahead of schedule in which an April opening was soon penned in which the hype on the grand opening of the third Apple theme park would only start to grow a perhaps for good reason. Apple World USA was in a totally different world from its British and Japanese sister parks in which being totally built from scratch and not using a previous failing theme park, it was the largest Apple Park in which while it had all the usual themed areas like the opening Matthew Street entrance, Pepperland area and others along with many attractions, everything about this was just bigger and better in many ways possible.
All of this showed that in just a few years, Apple Corps really were now a main player in the theme park industry and while Apple World UK would remain the flagship park, Apple World USA would be seen as the crown jewel of the parks; in some ways a comparison could be made with Disney in which if Apple World UK was very much like the Disneyland in California then Apple World USA was very much Apple’s answer to Walt Disney World in Florida. On its opening on April 20th 2001, Apple World USA had much riding on it in which while many couldn’t argue with the quality the park had, some within the higher ups in Apple still felt that building the park in Texas rather than in Florida or California was a mistake as the park wouldn’t make the numbers as they would hope for with some fearing that they might have another Euro Disneyland disaster situation with them this time.
Nonetheless, first impressions on opening were all positive in which the park, along with its added hotel accommodation making it a resort complex, all added to make this a truly spectacular theme park. While many celebrities had been invited either from in or out of the Apple family, only Ringo Starr would be the only Beatle to attend the opening and represent the band in which did lead to some in the press to speculate that because of George Harrison’s rumoured condition of his cancer returning and that he would be about to undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs the following month and would be in no fit state to attend and that the others felt it wouldn’t be right if Harrison wouldn’t be part of the grand opening so ultimately it was Ringo Starr who would fly the flag for the band.
With its opening, it seemed that all the fears that Apple World USA might be a failure were unfounded as it seemed that early numbers on the park in its opening few months seemed to point to a good opening year with many saying it was one of the best theme parks ever built and even some saying that had it been built in Florida, it might have not only been able to stand up to the might of Disney and Universal's own theme parks there but maybe even challenge them for domination. With hindsight however, all these glowing stats regarding attendance levels would all prove to be sadly a case of being too good to be true being in the wake of a certain event just a few months later that would shake America and the rest of the world, those figures would take a turn for the worse…
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Extract from 'A History Of Apple Films' by Ryan Parker
Extract from 'A History Of Apple Films' by Ryan Parker
2001 was really the make-or-break year for Apple Films in which while they had made some decent films over the years, there hadn’t been that major blockbuster film that the studio hadn’t tackled before until now which would be the first film of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy being called The Fellowship of The Ring to be released later in the year with it and its two follow-ups in The Two Towers and The Return Of The King all to be filmed in New Zealand. With so much money and reputation on the line, it was fair to say that the higher ups in Apple Corps were having some sleepless nights that failure was something unthinkable that no one dared not think about. While footage that had already been shot and seen by those at Apple Films did all look promising, no one could never be too careful with resting on their laurels.
However, in May that year, those at the top would have a feel good moment in which Apple Animation would strike gold when Shrek was released worldwide grossing over $491 million worldwide, becoming the year's fourth highest-grossing film and, as the old saying goes, the rest is history [1]. Sir Brian Epstein would personally congratulate Jefferey Katzenberg on the film's success in which after all the problems that film had during production, its success felt like a vindication for all of those who had worked on it though it must be said though Katzenberg would had felt this victory to be all the more sweeter for it meant that with Disney being unable to compete following them starting to stumble at the box office after nearly a whole decade of near unprecedented success with their animated films, they now faced a competitor in which was The Beatles' company of all things and Shrek is said to have kicked started the whole genre of 'fractured fairy tales' that .
Speaking of which, all four Beatles would all express how much they loved it with John Lennon admitting how he loved how the film subverted the whole fairy tale storyline and turned it on its head. Of course, no mention of the film could be made about the band's cameo as the four vultures in which the parody basis on their Disney counterparts didn't go unnoticed by many in which some did say that it was a little too much on the nose though it can be said that the film did have a strong Liverpool connection not meaning just The Beatles but also with its lead Mike Myers being that although being Canadian, his parents both so happened to have emigrated years ago from Liverpool meaning in some ways he was much a Liverpudlian much like The Beatles so there was that unlikely camaraderie in there too.
As the cameo scene would have it, the four Vultures would be a band known as The Quarrybirds which was a not too subtle reference to the original band before The Beatles known as The Quarrymen, and that all the vultures would have names that many hardcore Beatles fans would recognised in which Ringo Starr's vulture, the supposed leader of the group in the film, is called Ritchie being a play on his real name of Richard Starkey, Paul McCartney's vulture counterpart would be named Ramon being of course the pseudonym that McCartney used during the early days of the band, George Harrison's vulture was simply called Carl with that being his own pseudonym back in the early days being based on his hero Carl Perkins while finally Lennon's vulture would be simply called Mal which was indeed a reference to their late roadie Mal Evans who had saved Lennon all those years ago and in many ways this was his little tribute to the band's old friend.
Even though they had two scenes with the first being their introduction being thrown away in chains for being fairy-tale creatures for just talking and in an unspoken part during the finale of the film in which they are in attendance at Shrek and Fiona's wedding, it hasn't stopped many fans of the film over the years to make them popular with artwork and fanfictions alike based on these vultures going as far to give them backstories and such all to the point in which the Disney vultures that they were parodying off in the first place have almost been forgotten about which in many was was yet another slap in the face for Disney.
Even then when a sequel was already greenlit the moment Shrek became a hit, Katzenberg had hoped that all going well that he could have all four to return in more expanded roles but alas due to obvious reasons, such an idea never came to be though it is strongly rumoured that in Shrek 2 in which the characters Pinocchio, Gingy, The Three Pigs and The Three Blind Mice appear to rescue Shrek, Donkey and Puss In Boots that it would had been The Quarrybirds doing the rescue instead. While never confirmed, it remains a little piece of what might have been had things been different. Nonetheless with the unlikely success of Shrek, it gave Apple Films more confidence that if the start of the upcoming Lord Of The Rings trilogy was going to be a big hit come the end of the year then surely 2001 was going to be the year that Apple Films would finally enter the blockbuster film market at long last though 2001 would be remembered for an event that the rest of the world would never forget...
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Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
September 11th 2001. A day likely no one who was there will ever forget as the worst terrorist attack on American soil took place in New York which would see the Twin Towers would be brought down leaving a city and a country reeling from shock. On the very day of the attack, two Beatles would just so happened to witness the whole event right in front of their eyes. On that very day, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, taking some time off in which they had started to make a start on what would be the new Beatles album, were visiting New York to finish up work on McCartney's newest album then called Driving Rain [2] with Lennon happy to help his bandmate out with tweaking several songs. As to their shock, both were actually on the sitting in a plane which was parked on the tarmac at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, where they and the rest of The Beatles had landed in February 1964 [3]. For both men, it affected them both emotionally with Lennon showing that he still loved New York City in which while it would remind him of a failed marriage over a drunken mishap with himself and where he had nearly been killed, he still loved the city that never slept.Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
Almost at once, all thoughts about work on Driving Rain were halted as both Lennon and McCartney felt a need to do something to help and a day after the attacks, it was here that the two men felt that they needed to do something to help but what? The only thing both men could do was to write a song and this would be how the song Freedom would come about [4]. In the song, the narrator declares freedom to be a, “right given by God,” that he will, “fight for.” The lyrics were thus in seeming contradiction with the anti-war sentiment associated with much Beatles related songs mostly relating to Lennon's political musical output that were all about peace but given what had happened, even this had to be a serious exception to the rule though in a later interview McCartney commented, “to me it’s a ‘We Shall Overcome.’ That’s sort of how I wrote it. It’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve got freedom, I’m an immigrant coming to America, give me your huddled masses.’ And that’s what it means to me, is, ‘Don’t mess with my rights, buddy. Because I’m now free.'”
In the spur of the moment following a brief writing of the song, both men would track down a recording studio to record the track at Quad Studios in New York in which the fast turn around of the song was almost like the early days of The Beatles in which both McCartney and Lennon would have to write songs in a short space of time and this would be one of the rare times in which a Beatles song would be played entirely by both men not done since the days of The Ballad of John and Yoko and Two of Us in which while it technically wasn't a Beatles song, it would later be marked as one purely out of commercial reasons in which was never the idea given what the song was for. As of a result, it would be the unlikely first Beatles song of the new millennium during that October as a single and would be the confirmation that a new Beatles album was due.
The song would have its first performance during The Concert for New York City in October in which both men, along with an all star cast featuring g The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with American artists being represented by Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, The Backstreet Boys, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Melissa Etheridge, Five for Fighting, Goo Goo Dolls, John Mellencamp with Kid Rock in which would take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11th attacks [5]. For as much good intentions that the song had, it has sadly fallen to be one of the 'lesser' Beatles tracks that is rarely talked about though sadly for good reason in which McCartney would say that he felt the the song had been 'hijacked' and had acquired a militaristic meaning with the Bush administration’s Operation Iraqi Freedom that was to follow.
Lennon would in the following years lament this fact as he would look back on the song as nothing more than 'old shame' knowing that it was a song of its time and something that he and Paul had done in the moment for the best intentions and now it only reminded him of the War on Terror that was to follow in the coming years in which Lennon would seriously considering dusting of his political activism to put out his anti-war views on the whole matter but alas by that point, so many were against the war that he didn't feel the need to go out and protest though he wouldn't hide his views on the matter.
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Interview of John Lennon (2012)
I'll be honest, its a pretty crap song. Yeah, we thought it was for a good cause and to help Americans get back on their feet after what happened and we thought it was a great sentiment, and immediately post-9/11, we still believed that and wanted to think of that. But then that bastard George Bush hijacked it and it gained a militaristic meaning and you have to thank Mr. Bush for making a lousy song altered its meaning. If anyone wonders why I do not want to get involved in politics when some bent politician wants to try and get our approval to support, then Bush is pretty much one of those reasons why given how he felt the need to use that damn song.Interview of John Lennon (2012)
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Extract from 'The Story Of Apple Corps World' by Jordan Kent
The affects of 9/11 were felt far and wide across America and the rest of the world regarding air travel which saw flying hit record lows thanks to a fear of yet antoher plane hijacking situation taking place and this would affect the Apple theme parks. While both Apple World UK and Apple World Japan both had other alternate transport links to help bring visitors to those parks, the same couldn't quite be said for the newly opened Apple World USA in which after such a strong opening that looked as though attendance wise it was going to his its expective targets by the end of the year, 9/11 would turn everything on its head. It had been expected that many from across America would fly to Texas to visit the new park but the sudden public panic about flying during that part of the year would raise its ugly head.Extract from 'The Story Of Apple Corps World' by Jordan Kent
Granted, Apple World USA was far from the only theme park in America that was suffering from this problem as the Disney parks too in America would all suffer from a sudden downturn in attendance levels but at the very least those parks did have cash reserves to help get them through a troublesome year, but in the case of Apple World USA, this posed a problem as the park was needing a near perfect trouble-free year in which the more visited the park then it would had been a victory for Apple Corps. However, the 9/11 attacks threw a spanner in the works for the new park as following September, attendance suddenly dropped in which locals from the Houston area would visit the park regularly, the expected large crowd from across the country wouldn't be as big as expected and by the end of the year, attendance levels would be considered a disappointment though nowhere hear flop compared to what happened with Euro Disneyland back a few years ago.
This of course would lead to some members of the press to come out and to call out the park to be 'Epstein's true folly' given that after all the luck he had with the other parks that had opened to great success that it seemed that this was one step too far from him though much of its failures was nothing more than pure fake news at worse. Regardless though, over the next few years, the park would see attendance levels grow to become the successful park that it was always said to become though it was unlikely that such a massive Apple park like Apple World USA would never be built in fear of things backfiring as what Apple World USA nearly might've been though it was just a case an unfortunate set of circumstances that was out of Apple's hands that could never had happened either way. Despite calls to halt on any more Apple Parks to be built, planning was already well underway for the acquisition of Wonderland Sydney by Apple which would be agreed on by the end of the year in which that park would close by Christmas 2001 and would not open until 2004 in which it would be transformed into Apple World Australia but that would be another story...
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Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
He couldn't come of course, but the rest of the band could in which with Harrison still in Switzerland and in no clear state to travel and when he realised it was an irreversible situation, he worked further on the album's songs – in conjunction with his son Dhani and his old collaborator Jeff Lynne being the album's producer as he had been for the last few albums already – for as long as possible. As of a result, it was decided that the rest of The Beatles would record much as what they could with Harrison in Switzerland meaning that Switzerland would become the unlikely final location in which all four Beatles would be with each other for the last time. Though the rest of the band tried their best to ignore about Harrison's condition, it was a emotional draining experience seeing him like this.
Indeed, Lennon would lament that he could barely remember much being done as it was more of a 'stop/start' affair in which Harrison could barely play guitar at times given how weaker he was getting in which by the end of September, only three songs had been recorded, all of which being Harrison songs no less, given how slow things were and the forth song recorded would be Horse To The Water in which would happen on October 2nd in which Harrison was so weak by the point that he could no longer play guitar and was only able to sing [7]. By this point, Sir Brian Epstein who had come to visit realised that with how bad Harrison was in that it was not worth putting him through that so it was reluctantly decided to postpone work on the album with the possibility that the album itself might be cancelled though no one said anything.
Few would know it then, but Horse To The Water would be the final song that all four Beatles would work together on. In November, Harrison would leave Switzerland and headed for America to began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non–small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. However much to his and his close circle's dismay, the news was made public of his treatment in which he never wanted and when it had been made public, Harrison bemoaned his physician's breach of privacy, and his estate later claimed damages. Whatever the reason, it was too late and his time was nearing its end. Late into November, Harrison would move to a property belonging to McCartney, on Heather Road in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles in which he along with his bandmates along with manager Epstein would have a last supper together in which was perhaps the most personal they had all been.
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Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
Much of what was said during that final time together has been kept secret by those though it must be noted that Epstein had to excuse himself as his grief was too much for him and he would weep openly knowing that Harrison was about to die; the fact that he was the youngest of the band only made this feel worse for him and in many ways took it far worse than what the rest of the band were taking the moment in which it can be described best as if a parent was losing their child and given how Epstein never had any children, in many ways The Beatles were his boys and now that one was dying was something that Epstein had dared wished he'd never had to experience for as long as he lived. One thing that would come out from the final meeting was that oddly enough, Harrison did see a future for The Beatles without him in it in which he would handpick Eric Clapton to take his place in the band though Clapton did seem to have all the elements to make him join the band as well as being on good terms with the other Beatles even without knowing his longstanding relationship with Harrison, the likes of Lennon, McCartney and Starr were all lukewarm on the idea of Clapton joining the band.
Yes, they all liked him but after all the years the band had been together from since they were teenagers, it seemed too much of a jump to have someone replace a member of the band by this point even if it was someone like Eric Clapton, the loss of Harrison and replacing him with someone else was too much. Indeed, any thoughts of any new music were far from being on the mind of any of them and with that, they would all leave Harrison to be with in the company of wife Olivia, son Dhani, Shankar and the latter's wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka, and Hare Krishna devotees Shyamasundar Das and Mukunda Goswami for the final days of his life. Finally on November 29th, the dreaded day finally came in which George Harrison would pass away in the above's company with his final message to the world, as relayed in a statement by Olivia and Dhani, was: "Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another." [8]
He would be cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and his funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California. His close family scattered his ashes according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers near Varanasi, India. With that. Beatlemania had in the eyes of millions across the world, died for good. Tributes would flood in for Harrison in which at the three Apple parks across the world, the flags all at the front of the parks were lowered at half mast with even the entrances being covered in floral tributes by fans wishing to pay their respects for the fallen Beatle. Liverpool itself would mourn the passing of one of her famous sons and in a public appearance following Harrison's death, Epstein would make an appearance to the press to give his tribute to a man who while being the quiet Beatle had very much been ground-breaking for much of his interests he had brought to The Beatles and how both he and Harrison had grown close over the many years and that there would never be another man like Harrison ever again.
Of course, as typical by much of the press showing how much they even bothered listening to Epstein's emotional tribute, questions would be raised about if the planned new Beatles album was still going to be released or if it was to be cancelled and this would be a question that would follow Epstein, much to his anger over how much the press were trying to milk the whole event, over the next few weeks following Harrison's death and in truth, even he was not sure himself. Could they go on? How would Apple Corps move on without The Beatles who had been the very foundation of the company? It was all very different questions that no one, not even the surviving members of The Beatles knew themselves. Either way, the band would take a hiatus to grief for the loss of their fallen bandmate before coming to an idea of what to do next. Were The Beatles finally dead after over 40 years together? It wouldn't be until February 2002 that the world would get their answer...
[1] Yes, Shrek is pretty much the same film as OTL other than a few changes being that Beatles cameo and that the film is in 2D which has some interesting butterfly effects with animated films going forward ITTL.
[2] That album is, other than a few songs thrown in from OTL's Flaming Pie, mostly the same but has some tweaks thanks to Lennon given a helping hand here.
[3] This actually happened IOTL when McCartney was at JFK airport when he witnessed the attacks taking place so the same happens here ITTL though Lennon is with him.
[4] Yes, that song still happens ITTL though is now a Lennon/McCartney song.
[5] Though show still happens like with OTL though here Lennon is playing too in which given how much he loved New York IOTL, I could see him playing a part in the show.
[6] Sadly exactly what happened with OTL too.
[7] Much like what happened with OTL too though has the rest The Beatles on this track now instead of being for Jools Holland's album like OTL.
[8] His final words as with OTL too.
An update that is the darkest one ITTL for sure for good reason as we all know what happened in 2001. Yes, Harrison meets his OTL fate here in which, as the trope would say, 'Doomed by the Canon' as there are some things in TL's you can't avoid and thus Harrison's fate is one of those. It is indeed a difficult update to write up as I can still remember Harrison's death as my Dad, who's favourite Beatle was always Harrison, was utterly torn up by his death perhaps more so than even Lennon's death so it is something I'll never really forget. It is horrible to write up the dark chapters but you have to do them as nothing can always be sunshine and rainbows always in any TL and this is one of these moments.
Now you are wondering what is next? Well, we are getting near the end of this TL in which we will have a final chapter next week following a photo update the following week and finally after that, an epilogue chapter or rather I should say Eppy-logue given who this TL is about that take us roughly to 2017 and to see what happened then. I will say it really hits home when you know you are nearing the end of writing a TL that has been with you for the best part of a year and I'll be wondering what will I be doing next. But anyway, I'll cross that bridge when it comes so with that said, hope you enjoyed this update and we shall see you in the next update this time next week or maybe sooner depending on how busy I'll be with my personal life so with that all said, I'll see you all next time.
It saddens me that George met the same fate, but it's made better by the fact that he felt more included ITTL. I also like that you showed how a song like "Freedom" was taken over by jingoists. Wonderful job and I'm gutted but excited to see how it all ends.
Brainwashed To The End
Well then, here we go, the final chapter of this epic TL though not quite the end just yet...nonetheless we have a lot to get through in this update in which now that Harrison has passed on much like with OTL, what will the remaining Beatles do now? Well then, lets all find out then.
Brainwashed To The End
Extract from 'An Apple Domination: Apple Corps During The 2000's' by Ken McColl
The death of George Harrison had left a major hole for everyone at Apple Corps in which that one of the company’s founders had passed on was a truly alien feeling. Granted, Harrison had long since passed over leadership duties of Apple Films by this point but all the same, the sense of loss was still there. Going into 2002, the question of the planned Beatles album that was supposed to released for the year had been very much up the air since Harrison’s passing over if the album was to be completed or if the band had decided to give and end The Beatles there and then. On that basis alone, 2001 would looked as though to have been a dark year for Apple, not to mention the shock of 9/11 leaving a scar that would likely never heal, but if one was to ignore Harrison’s death, 2001 had in all honesty had not only been one of the greatest years for Apple Corps in its history but also had been a watershed moment for where the company was going.
It's film and animation divisions were both basking in the glory of box office success in which Shrek had become the unlikely animated hit that had managed to rip apart Disney’s ironclad grip on the animated film market which the end of the year would see the release of the first film of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy being called The Fellowship of the Ring which had opened to overwhelming positive reviews and had become the second highest grossing film of the year and with The Two Towers and The Return of the King both on track for a 2002 and 2003 release date respectively, Apple Films looked as though that they would have forever shredded off their Indy roots and had grown into a major film studio much like its American counterparts and more than likely as a launching point for any British studio wanting a main distributor to release films in the lucrative American and even Asian markets.
That all being said, it was rather bittersweet as that trilogy of films would truly mark the end of an era not just for Apple Films for Apple Corps as a whole. It would mark the end of Apple Corps’ hippy roots when it was first created in 1968 to allow for more creative control to now becoming a giant media corporation away from the world of music that they had been made before and now had become the very thing that they were trying to avoid happening to them. John Lennon would remark of the irony of this of how they had become the very thing they were fighting against and in truth, Apple’s influence stretched far and wide in a way greater than many of those other so-called big companies would have before them so even then Apple Corps had by this point become very much second to Disney in more ways than one and while there were many under the age of thirty who had grown up with Apple as a formality from their music, film, computer and theme parks, many of those at the time who had been there at the start would feel some sadness that too much had change and that the little company that The Beatles had formed all those years ago was no more.
With that said, The Beatles, despite being the backbone of that company for over thirty years were now at a stage of no longer being the main focus as Apple Corps was willing to try and show their new musical talent on show to prove that the company had more than just being The Beatles’ company or front even if by then they had more or less succeeded in this endeavour with all the award winning talent under the Apple umbrella that could be the envy of many in the music business but alas there were still many ignorant individuals he felt either wise and it was only after Harrison’s death that those people in question had only finally started to take note that there was more than just The Beatles to Apple Corps. Just a shattering thought that it had only taken the death of a Beatle for this fact to hit those in the face after so long. Still, the question of this Beatles album remained unanswered, and it would be in February that the world would get an answer for what was to happen now.
From George Harrison’s death in November 2001 until the remaining Beatles came together again for a public announcement in February 2002, it had been a long period of mourning for the band as well as Sir Brian Epstein who very much had taken this badly to the point when he was needing to have a leave of absence from Apple to grieve too. No one really wanted to talk about making music during that time as when one member of a band had passed on, what were you supposed to do? Even though Harrison was always known as being the quiet Beatle and always felt he suffered being in the shadow of the likes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, he would have been surprised to know how much his absence was affecting the band and perhaps millions of Beatles fans all over the world in that moment which would only show how important he was for the band. The idea of doing a Beatles album without one of the Fab Four present was unprecedented and questions would be raised if it would be a genuine Beatles album without one of them there.
Granted, they all knew that their fellow Apple peers Queen had a few years ago released their final album called Made In Heaven [1] which had been released a few years after Freddie Mercury’s death with many of his vocals being added upon by the rest of the band to help complete the album and in the case for Beatles 27 (as was its working title then), it was felt that at the very least that they should carry on yet with only 40% of the album having been recorded in Switzerland prior to Harrison’s death who in turn had only had less of that of that being only his vocals recorded, it felt empty without him on it. It was however his son Dhani Harrison who would be the lynchpin that would help bring the album back from the brink as seemingly anticipation his impending passing, Harrison had at his home studio at Friar Park many recordings he had done on the side to get out there in case anything happened to him.
Exactly why he wouldn’t mentioned most of this to his bandmates before recording had taking place in Switzerland was a baffling one though know Harrison and his wicked sense of humour, maybe he didn’t mention this for a last laugh? In truth, the song he had recorded as demos weren’t intended for being Beatles songs but upon hearing them, they were considered too good not to leave out and thus with a good number of Harrison songs to add to along with what had been recorded already in Switzerland, the project was alive again although the remaining Beatles wouldn’t be alone in tackling this final album. To help out The Beatles in recording the album would see Jeff Lynne being brought in once more to help produce it alongside Dhani Harrison whom the latter would play a major role in helping to bring the album to life in which he had suggested that The Beatles should record the remainder of the album at Friar Park as in a way of getting inspiration of what his father would have wanted.
Granted this was far from the first time the band had been at Friar Park or had recorded music there, but this felt different that this was all without Harrison though his presence was still felt whenever Lennon, McCartney and Starr were about and Sir Brian Epstein would say that it all felt difficult for him personally as he had grown so fond of George Harrison that he had never even then had gotten over his loss that he felt he couldn't be there in Friar Park as the memories were too strong for him and that the fact that young Dhani bore a striking resemblance to his late father made this feel even worse and that how the rest of the band could manage this was something that Epstein couldn't fathom himself.
Also helping on with the album would be Eric Clapton, who was not only one who knew Harrison inside out better than perhaps the rest of The Beatles but had been personally chosen by Harrison to take his place in the band to which he had politely declined the offer knowing all the comparisons that would be made about him and that even knowing his long friendship with Harrison that some would have felt like he was taking his place in which he felt would have been almost scandalous to some Beatles fans. To also help out with the new album, The Beatles' long-time producer George Martin would also be brought in for the addition of strings for certain songs in which this album would be some of his final work and given that this was most certainly the final Beatles album to be made then it was fitting that this too would be his final work on any album and with that, work on Beatles 27 would restart.
Nonetheless, the songs in question from Harrison alone were all a strong bunch in which the first to be included was so far was Horse To The Water which of course had been the final song that all four Beatles had recorded together in Switzerland, the other half completed song from that time out there would be Rising Sun which was considered another Harrison classic. The other songs had all had their vocals recorded from years before that the rest of the band would have to add to in order to complete the songs in which the first to be worked on a Friar Park was Stuck inside A Cloud, a intimate song in which was about Harrison's smoking issues that had brought on his cancer and was considered a favourite track from Dhani Harrison and a song that is considered a hard song to listen to without getting upset knowing the meaning of that song as well as in the context of the final album from The Beatles. Another unique song which would have no vocals on it, a rarity for any Beatles album, would be Marwa Blues which with all its slide guitar parts that Harrison had all done some years prior before he was unable to play guitar anymore was pure Harrison in every sense of the word.
The fifth song from Harrison would be Never Get Over You which was a song that could rival any love song that he had written before, the sixth song would be Pisces Fish which would be an ode to his zodiac sign on the same name and the final track from Harrison and perhaps one of his most rawest songs he'd ever written would be Brainwashed, a song that be a meaningful song with it being about how everyone is brainwashed by pretty much anyone and anything. With Harrison's songs all listed, that left just for all the other Beatles to bring forward their share of songs for the new album. Ringo Starr would step up to the plate with a song he had started but with the help of both Lennon and McCartney he would complete in which would be the song Never Without You [3] which was a tribute song written for Harrison and would be the first song that the remaining Beatles would record following Harrison's death and was perhaps one of the more touching Starr songs for sure.
McCartney's songs would be a mixed bunch of old and new in which the first presented was the song Heaven On A Sunday which had been written, recorded but ultimately cut from Flaming Pie yet McCartney still said it had been his favourite song from that period and had wanted to use it for the past several years and here was a chance to use it, not to mention that it did feature Harrison's original guitar parts as recorded from 1997 which made its inclusion all the more important in which with a few tweaks made to the song while keeping much of Harrison's parts with the original recording, it was a genuine song that had all four working on. The second song to be included from McCartney would be She's Given Up Talking which he had written up the previous year based on someone he knew whose kid had gone to school and wouldn’t talk all day that she was in school and then for a year she wouldn’t talk at school to which this idea of her giving up talking seemed like a good title to use.
Finally, the third and final song from McCartney would be Spinning On An Axis which had been inspired during a trip to New Hampshire visiting American relatives to which was based on how he and his son James noticed how the sun wasn't going down but that the Earth was spinning on a axis which would lead to the inspiration of the song. Both songs were one of the few on the album that didn't have any contribution from Harrison as they would be recorded at Friar Park. Finally it was down to Lennon's turn to bring forward his collection of songs to use for the album with the first being an acoustic solo number called Not For Love, Nor Money [4] which had been a song that stuck in Lennon's backlog of songs for many years and he had tried and failed to find a place for the song until now. The second song from him would be Grow Old With Me which had been a song that Lennon had imagined along with with May to end up becoming the kind of song that they would play in church every time a couple gets married [4] and indeed as he would hope for, it would be a song used in the years following to be played for whenever Beatles fans have gotten married to use it as the song for the married couple's first dance meaning that it did have the desired effect.
However, in the context following Harrison's death, the song took on a totally different meaning that perhaps no one expected in which the song could be viewed as a mournful plea from Lennon to Harrison wishing that he would 'grow old with the rest of them' so to speak which makes that track a tearjerker in truth. The final song from Lennon would actually be fittingly the final song that would be recorded for the album in which would be Now And Then in which while there had been progress done in Switzerland with Harrison doing some backing vocals, as well as some of his final guitar playing before he would be unable to do so due to his advancing cancer but would be finished at Friar Park with some tweaked lyrics such as adding 'I miss you' [5] which was of course very much aimed at Harrison. The final ever Beatles recording would be done on March 14th 2002 with the completion of Now And Then and then, it would dawn on those there the gravity of the situation.
However, while at first it had seemed like a fun idea to begin with, Lennon would admit to getting cold feet on the idea of the title feeling that the title might take away from Harrison's song which in turn was to be the finale song for the album and that him having the name of his own song added to the title would have felt rather tasteless in his eyes so he quietly asked for the title to be dropped to which the album would be revealed publicly to be simply called Brainwashed.
That said, it had been so close to be be given its original name that posters and other pieces of promotional material had already been made in which have often been the source of rare pieces to any hardcore Beatles fan's collection as those unreleased posters in particular do sell for some large amounts of money. That said, there have been some who have felt that the original title would have been better suited for the album but alas, it was not meant to be and thus Beatles 27 would become Brainwashed and the rest of the world could hardly wait for the release of that final album.
Even before one album had flown off the shelf, Brainwashed would record the highest pre-orders for any Beatles album before, actually even the highest of that year compared to other albums, such was the hype for this album and finally on May 10th 2002, Brainwashed would be released worldwide to the public and the image to long remember that album by was of any major record store across the world having people lined up as if going to see a big blockbuster film such was how demand to hear the final Beatles album had reached a fever pitch. Question was, would it all live up to the hype?
Brainwashed (2002)
1) Horse To The Water
2) Never Without You
3) Rising Sun
4) She's Given Up Talking
5) Not For Love, Nor Money
6) Marwa Blues
7) Grow Old With Me
8) Stuck Inside A Cloud
9) Heaven On A Sunday
10) Never Get Over You
11) Spinning On An Axis
12) Pisces Fish
13) Now And Then
14) Brainwashed
Upon its release, Brainwashed would be one of the fastest selling albums in history, even for Beatles standards this was something different and the album was at one point looking like it would become the highest selling album of 2002 but alas it would just be pipped at the post by The Eminem Show which would come out shortly afterwards. Thankfully, the album would receive positive reviews in which while many critics did say it wasn't quite up there with some of the band's other masterpiece albums, it was nonetheless still considered a fine album in its own right an a fitting finale for The Beatles.
Brainwashed itself is wildly considered one of the more emotional Beatles albums not just for the fact of being the last ever Beatles album but that many of the songs are of a more venerable nature such as Stuck Inside A Cloud and Never Without You coming to mind with Grow Old With Me and Now And Then being very much a feeling like full circle numbers for the album. Indeed, on its release, the album itself would be a difficult one for Beatles fans to listen to in which it was likely no one would have gotten thought the album once before shedding a few tears to the point when some Beatles fans would rather call the album Tearjerker instead because of this.
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Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
It must be reminded in which the album was rather unfortunately blinded by the hype of being the 'last Beatles album' and benefiting from the dead celebrity bounce in George Harrison that few early on would give the album a more detailed analysis to give it a more critical view. While indeed it was a good album in its own right, it has been criticised by some for given the large amount of Harrison songs on the album that Brainwashed can be argued to be more of a glorified Harrison solo album that has some Beatles sprinkling on it with some wondering if Harrison hadn't passed away if the same sort of album would have still happened or had been a totally different beast with some wondering if this was done to milk the moment on the death of Harrison.
It was a loaded comment to make yet it wasn't totally untrue as over the years whenever some famous singer or songwriter would pass on, an album baring their name with some never before heard songs would be released so thus some felt as this was a period of 'Harrison-exploitation' in which the other Beatles denied greatly though nonetheless it did make some people think. But with that all said, the album itself was a success overall with Horse To The Water and Now And Then being released as singles to start off with in which the former would be a number one hit in both the UK and US charts (subsequently being added on reprints on 1 in the coming years too) though the very final Beatles album would be released with many of the songs from Brainwashed on what would be the eighth and final Beatles compilation album being The Beatles/Gold (1995 - 2002) released in time for the Christmas period which would bring a full circle of forty years of hits from 1962 to 2002 end neatly there and then.
While this might have seemed like the very end of The Beatles, there was still perhaps one final performance for the band in which would take exactly one year after Harrison's death at the Royal Albert Hall on November 29th 2002....
It would perhaps one of the greatest tribute shows ever put on in which really was a microcosm of all those who Harrison had known in which the concert opened with a traditional Sanskrit invocation, the Sarvesham chant, followed by Indian music starting with Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar, playing Your Eyes before Brian Epstein would make his appearance on stage, one of his rare public appearances following Harrison's death, to welcome everyone to this event [7]. Next, Anoushka Shankar, Dhani Harrison, and Jeff Lynne performed the nearly forgotten Beatles number The Inner Light, followed by a Ravi Shankar composition Arpan (Sanskrit for 'to give'), specially written for the occasion.
Next, there was to be a comedy interlude with four of the surviving members of the Monty Python troupe (along with Python contributor Neil Innes) performing Sit on My Face. Then, Michael Palin came out as an over-the-top announcer who eventually states that he only ever wanted to be a lumberjack. He was then joined by the Pythons, Innes, Carol Cleveland, Tom Hanks, and The Fred Tomlinson Singers to perform The Lumberjack Song. There was something about seeing the members of Monty Python together to pay their tribute for Harrison for if not for him then likely the film Life Of Brian would never had been made and maybe perhaps Python's legacy would never had reached the major heights were it not for Harrison fighting tooth and nail to bring them to the top.
After that, the rest of the concert featured 'George's Band' and included the surviving members of the three remaining members of The Beatles, Harrison's son Dhani Harrison, as well as musicians Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston (this marking his brief reunion with The Beatles), Jools Holland, Albert Lee, Sam Brown, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Ray Cooper, Andy Fairweather-Low, Marc Mann, Dave Bronze, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and several other musicians who had appeared on Harrison's recordings over the years. The show would show how quite vast the line up was in which the show would feature the unexpected appearance of Nirvana, the youngest band there be told, in which would have to their name as the final band that Harrison would produce a record for and would pay tribute by performing Art of Dying and Hear My Lord staying faithful to both numbers in which were both well received despite some scepticism to them being there.
Other acts there would all perform keeping faithful to all of Harrison's songs such as Jeff Lynne performed I Want to Tell You and Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth); Eric Clapton on If I Needed Someone and Beware of Darkness; Tom Petty on I Need You and Taxman; Petty, Lynne, Dhani Harrison, and Keltner all then on Handle With Care (reuniting most of the surviving Traveling Wilburys except for Bob Dylan); Joe Brown with Here Comes The Sun and finally Clapton and Preston on Isn't It a Pity. After this, it was time for the three Beatles to take their part in the show in which Ringo Starr would appear first in which he would perform I'll Still Love You [8] and Photograph; Lennon would then take his bow in which he would perform Blow Away and Cheer Down before letting McCartney take his part in the show by performing For You Blue and All Things Must Pass before both he and Lennon along with Clapton would perform Something (McCartney would open with a solo ukulele accompaniment, an instrument that was one of Harrison's favourites, that would shift into a full band version featuring Clapton).
The rest of the show would see The Beatles as well the rest of the large supergroup to play out the rest of the show with numbers like Horse To The Water, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, My Sweet Lord and a group performance of Brainwashed [9]. Finally, Joe Brown would close the show out with an emotional rendition of I'll See You in My Dreams on ukulele and with that, it really was the end of an era that would be really one of the greatest tribute shows ever performed. Towards the end of the show as many of the performers would embrace one another to congratulate each other, Brian Epstein would emerge from the wings to embrace Lennon, McCartney and Starr in which was really a tearjerker moment given how this really was it; the end of The Beatles and of an era and the tears in Epstein's eyes showed what this meant for him.
As others left the stage and the audience would soon leave, Epstein would, after telling others to give him a private moment to quiet reflection, stand by the wings looking out at the slowly emptying Albert Hall with him looking back on the life he had done what this moment really meant for him. Others who were looking at him from a far could see his eyes glazed and a thoughtful look on his face as no doubt he was reflecting everything that had come to this moment. They might had been any thought really from all the way back from going down into that cellar full of noise in which he first met The Beatles in the Cavern, the rise of Beatlemania and the conquest of America, the studio years, the rise of Apple Corps as a huge media empire over the past thirty years, given Harrison his voice in which the rest of the band didn't seem to have time for him, all the other acts he had signed on for Apple, the many avenues that Epstein had taken the company away from just The Beatles to finally this moment here.
He really had done it all, he had succeeded in manage the world's greatest rock band to levels of height that surely no one else would ever reach yet there was a bittersweet aspect to it all that it was all over. Epstein felt he could keep going but he knew his mind might have been still sharp yet his body likely wasn't the same as before so what could he do now? Actually, what was there left to do now for him? He wouldn't say what he thought to anyone that evening as he finally left the stage and went backstage to meet with everyone else, half of which all owed it to Epstein for signing them onto Apple Records and given them the faith to reach their own level of success. But then again, who knows, maybe Epstein would find the next Beatles though it was a long shot for sure but now...maybe it was time to finally put his feet up and retire with grace?
One thing was for certain though, with the empire he had helped create from music, media, theme parks and computer that all were connected to him and that much of the world all took for granted, Sir Brian Epstein's fingerprints of that he had been part of now seemed to affect everyone and that maybe his legacy would be looked on far more than just The Beatles' gay manager but instead as a maverick in the entertainment world? Who was to say that anyone else would have the same sort of legacy as what Epstein would ever have? Who is to say had he died from that near overdose in 1967 that everything else still would have happened? It is a world that no one can barely comprehend how different it would be. Yes, there was only one Beatles, but there surely was only one Sir Brian Samuel Epstein OBE who without him, the world would have been a very different and worse place without him.
[1] As with OTL.
[2] Same thing happened during the OTL Anthology though for John, ITTL it is shifted to Harrison instead.
[3] The song is mostly the same though is now a Starkey/Lennon/McCartney piece.
[4] One of the lost Lennon songs gets their moment to shine on here.
[5] Very much the last Beatles song like with OTL though much earlier given it is ITTL the last Beatles song recorded for that album.
[6] Pretty much the same concert from OTL though with some different acts given who Harrison would have interacted with ITTL such as Nirvana.
[7] Epstein takes the place of Clapton as the master of ceremonies ITTL which is pretty much fitting for him.
[8] Takes the place of Honey Don't as there is more Harrison songs to play here.
[9] With Wah-Wah never being written ITTL, it instead is played with a big jam version of Brainwashed which with that band would have sounded epic.
Well then, this is it, the final chapter of The Fingerprints Of Epstein, perhaps the most extensive Beatles TL ever written if I dare say so? Well, it is hard to imagine that when I started this, it was only done as a world to write up the fantasy Beatles albums I had come up with over a year ago to give them a reason to exist and in some ways it is kind of ironic to being like why JRR Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings being as just a world for his Elvish language to exist the same way as I wrote up this fantasy Beatles albums too in a way. But yeah, I will admit it does hit you when you realise that a huge TL you have written for all this time is now at an end is a feeling you don't know what to think.
After seeing all the Beatles TL's over the years, I will admit I never thought I'd actually do one myself but alas I've only just not only done one but completed it which is kind of crazy. However, this would not had been possible with all the support each and everyone of you who had read this from the very start to now the final chapter is something I can only thank you all from the bottom of my heart as you all kept me going to get this TL to where it is now. Anyway, it isn't quite the end yet as we have two epilogue chapters (or rather I should say Eppy-logue in terms of who the main character of this TL is) being a picture update and finally the true final chapter which takes up to the near present day of 2018 which is where this TL will finally end. So once again, thank you all for the support and there is still one last hurrah to come next and the question then would be a case of what now?
I have ideas of starting a spin-off TL is demand is there for an interacted TL in which I'd like to imagine you, the reader to write up chapters of how ITTL you or maybe write up a fictional character of some kind, would be like during the events of ITTL such as who they are, where they come from and how this world affects them. This is just an idea floating about that I need time to think about, maybe in the next update so once more...see you all next time for the last two updates for this TL.
Brainwashed To The End
Extract from 'An Apple Domination: Apple Corps During The 2000's' by Ken McColl
The death of George Harrison had left a major hole for everyone at Apple Corps in which that one of the company’s founders had passed on was a truly alien feeling. Granted, Harrison had long since passed over leadership duties of Apple Films by this point but all the same, the sense of loss was still there. Going into 2002, the question of the planned Beatles album that was supposed to released for the year had been very much up the air since Harrison’s passing over if the album was to be completed or if the band had decided to give and end The Beatles there and then. On that basis alone, 2001 would looked as though to have been a dark year for Apple, not to mention the shock of 9/11 leaving a scar that would likely never heal, but if one was to ignore Harrison’s death, 2001 had in all honesty had not only been one of the greatest years for Apple Corps in its history but also had been a watershed moment for where the company was going.
It's film and animation divisions were both basking in the glory of box office success in which Shrek had become the unlikely animated hit that had managed to rip apart Disney’s ironclad grip on the animated film market which the end of the year would see the release of the first film of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy being called The Fellowship of the Ring which had opened to overwhelming positive reviews and had become the second highest grossing film of the year and with The Two Towers and The Return of the King both on track for a 2002 and 2003 release date respectively, Apple Films looked as though that they would have forever shredded off their Indy roots and had grown into a major film studio much like its American counterparts and more than likely as a launching point for any British studio wanting a main distributor to release films in the lucrative American and even Asian markets.
That all being said, it was rather bittersweet as that trilogy of films would truly mark the end of an era not just for Apple Films for Apple Corps as a whole. It would mark the end of Apple Corps’ hippy roots when it was first created in 1968 to allow for more creative control to now becoming a giant media corporation away from the world of music that they had been made before and now had become the very thing that they were trying to avoid happening to them. John Lennon would remark of the irony of this of how they had become the very thing they were fighting against and in truth, Apple’s influence stretched far and wide in a way greater than many of those other so-called big companies would have before them so even then Apple Corps had by this point become very much second to Disney in more ways than one and while there were many under the age of thirty who had grown up with Apple as a formality from their music, film, computer and theme parks, many of those at the time who had been there at the start would feel some sadness that too much had change and that the little company that The Beatles had formed all those years ago was no more.
With that said, The Beatles, despite being the backbone of that company for over thirty years were now at a stage of no longer being the main focus as Apple Corps was willing to try and show their new musical talent on show to prove that the company had more than just being The Beatles’ company or front even if by then they had more or less succeeded in this endeavour with all the award winning talent under the Apple umbrella that could be the envy of many in the music business but alas there were still many ignorant individuals he felt either wise and it was only after Harrison’s death that those people in question had only finally started to take note that there was more than just The Beatles to Apple Corps. Just a shattering thought that it had only taken the death of a Beatle for this fact to hit those in the face after so long. Still, the question of this Beatles album remained unanswered, and it would be in February that the world would get an answer for what was to happen now.
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Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
From George Harrison’s death in November 2001 until the remaining Beatles came together again for a public announcement in February 2002, it had been a long period of mourning for the band as well as Sir Brian Epstein who very much had taken this badly to the point when he was needing to have a leave of absence from Apple to grieve too. No one really wanted to talk about making music during that time as when one member of a band had passed on, what were you supposed to do? Even though Harrison was always known as being the quiet Beatle and always felt he suffered being in the shadow of the likes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, he would have been surprised to know how much his absence was affecting the band and perhaps millions of Beatles fans all over the world in that moment which would only show how important he was for the band. The idea of doing a Beatles album without one of the Fab Four present was unprecedented and questions would be raised if it would be a genuine Beatles album without one of them there.
Granted, they all knew that their fellow Apple peers Queen had a few years ago released their final album called Made In Heaven [1] which had been released a few years after Freddie Mercury’s death with many of his vocals being added upon by the rest of the band to help complete the album and in the case for Beatles 27 (as was its working title then), it was felt that at the very least that they should carry on yet with only 40% of the album having been recorded in Switzerland prior to Harrison’s death who in turn had only had less of that of that being only his vocals recorded, it felt empty without him on it. It was however his son Dhani Harrison who would be the lynchpin that would help bring the album back from the brink as seemingly anticipation his impending passing, Harrison had at his home studio at Friar Park many recordings he had done on the side to get out there in case anything happened to him.
Exactly why he wouldn’t mentioned most of this to his bandmates before recording had taking place in Switzerland was a baffling one though know Harrison and his wicked sense of humour, maybe he didn’t mention this for a last laugh? In truth, the song he had recorded as demos weren’t intended for being Beatles songs but upon hearing them, they were considered too good not to leave out and thus with a good number of Harrison songs to add to along with what had been recorded already in Switzerland, the project was alive again although the remaining Beatles wouldn’t be alone in tackling this final album. To help out The Beatles in recording the album would see Jeff Lynne being brought in once more to help produce it alongside Dhani Harrison whom the latter would play a major role in helping to bring the album to life in which he had suggested that The Beatles should record the remainder of the album at Friar Park as in a way of getting inspiration of what his father would have wanted.
Granted this was far from the first time the band had been at Friar Park or had recorded music there, but this felt different that this was all without Harrison though his presence was still felt whenever Lennon, McCartney and Starr were about and Sir Brian Epstein would say that it all felt difficult for him personally as he had grown so fond of George Harrison that he had never even then had gotten over his loss that he felt he couldn't be there in Friar Park as the memories were too strong for him and that the fact that young Dhani bore a striking resemblance to his late father made this feel even worse and that how the rest of the band could manage this was something that Epstein couldn't fathom himself.
Also helping on with the album would be Eric Clapton, who was not only one who knew Harrison inside out better than perhaps the rest of The Beatles but had been personally chosen by Harrison to take his place in the band to which he had politely declined the offer knowing all the comparisons that would be made about him and that even knowing his long friendship with Harrison that some would have felt like he was taking his place in which he felt would have been almost scandalous to some Beatles fans. To also help out with the new album, The Beatles' long-time producer George Martin would also be brought in for the addition of strings for certain songs in which this album would be some of his final work and given that this was most certainly the final Beatles album to be made then it was fitting that this too would be his final work on any album and with that, work on Beatles 27 would restart.
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Interview of Ringo Starr (2006)
When we started work on Brainwashed at Friar Park, it was the sight that there was just three of us that really hit us that George is no longer here. It was really difficult to try and get on with it so we had to say stuff like, "George can you get us a cup of tea?" [2] just to try and distract us from that fact and in some ways we did get on with it but it really was a difficult album to do in terms of emotions.Interview of Ringo Starr (2006)
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Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
It had been decided that the new album would have a total of fourteen songs, the largest amount of Beatles songs on a single album since Band On The Run in 1973 in which while Lennon and McCartney would both get their share of three songs each as always with Starr getting his usual single song as always, it was perhaps to no surprise that Harrison would get the lion's share of songs in which he would have a grand total of seven songs, the most he had ever had for any Beatles album before and in one weird full circle moment of history, the tables had turned in which after all the years of Lennon and McCartney dominating all the space on an album with Harrison lucky to get at least one track on an album, Harrison had finally gotten the last word by having more songs than both those men combined which only went to show just how far Harrison had come as a song writer. Just a cruel twist of fate it had to take until after Harrison's death for this to happen.Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
Nonetheless, the songs in question from Harrison alone were all a strong bunch in which the first to be included was so far was Horse To The Water which of course had been the final song that all four Beatles had recorded together in Switzerland, the other half completed song from that time out there would be Rising Sun which was considered another Harrison classic. The other songs had all had their vocals recorded from years before that the rest of the band would have to add to in order to complete the songs in which the first to be worked on a Friar Park was Stuck inside A Cloud, a intimate song in which was about Harrison's smoking issues that had brought on his cancer and was considered a favourite track from Dhani Harrison and a song that is considered a hard song to listen to without getting upset knowing the meaning of that song as well as in the context of the final album from The Beatles. Another unique song which would have no vocals on it, a rarity for any Beatles album, would be Marwa Blues which with all its slide guitar parts that Harrison had all done some years prior before he was unable to play guitar anymore was pure Harrison in every sense of the word.
The fifth song from Harrison would be Never Get Over You which was a song that could rival any love song that he had written before, the sixth song would be Pisces Fish which would be an ode to his zodiac sign on the same name and the final track from Harrison and perhaps one of his most rawest songs he'd ever written would be Brainwashed, a song that be a meaningful song with it being about how everyone is brainwashed by pretty much anyone and anything. With Harrison's songs all listed, that left just for all the other Beatles to bring forward their share of songs for the new album. Ringo Starr would step up to the plate with a song he had started but with the help of both Lennon and McCartney he would complete in which would be the song Never Without You [3] which was a tribute song written for Harrison and would be the first song that the remaining Beatles would record following Harrison's death and was perhaps one of the more touching Starr songs for sure.
McCartney's songs would be a mixed bunch of old and new in which the first presented was the song Heaven On A Sunday which had been written, recorded but ultimately cut from Flaming Pie yet McCartney still said it had been his favourite song from that period and had wanted to use it for the past several years and here was a chance to use it, not to mention that it did feature Harrison's original guitar parts as recorded from 1997 which made its inclusion all the more important in which with a few tweaks made to the song while keeping much of Harrison's parts with the original recording, it was a genuine song that had all four working on. The second song to be included from McCartney would be She's Given Up Talking which he had written up the previous year based on someone he knew whose kid had gone to school and wouldn’t talk all day that she was in school and then for a year she wouldn’t talk at school to which this idea of her giving up talking seemed like a good title to use.
Finally, the third and final song from McCartney would be Spinning On An Axis which had been inspired during a trip to New Hampshire visiting American relatives to which was based on how he and his son James noticed how the sun wasn't going down but that the Earth was spinning on a axis which would lead to the inspiration of the song. Both songs were one of the few on the album that didn't have any contribution from Harrison as they would be recorded at Friar Park. Finally it was down to Lennon's turn to bring forward his collection of songs to use for the album with the first being an acoustic solo number called Not For Love, Nor Money [4] which had been a song that stuck in Lennon's backlog of songs for many years and he had tried and failed to find a place for the song until now. The second song from him would be Grow Old With Me which had been a song that Lennon had imagined along with with May to end up becoming the kind of song that they would play in church every time a couple gets married [4] and indeed as he would hope for, it would be a song used in the years following to be played for whenever Beatles fans have gotten married to use it as the song for the married couple's first dance meaning that it did have the desired effect.
However, in the context following Harrison's death, the song took on a totally different meaning that perhaps no one expected in which the song could be viewed as a mournful plea from Lennon to Harrison wishing that he would 'grow old with the rest of them' so to speak which makes that track a tearjerker in truth. The final song from Lennon would actually be fittingly the final song that would be recorded for the album in which would be Now And Then in which while there had been progress done in Switzerland with Harrison doing some backing vocals, as well as some of his final guitar playing before he would be unable to do so due to his advancing cancer but would be finished at Friar Park with some tweaked lyrics such as adding 'I miss you' [5] which was of course very much aimed at Harrison. The final ever Beatles recording would be done on March 14th 2002 with the completion of Now And Then and then, it would dawn on those there the gravity of the situation.
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Interview of Paul McCartney (2012)
Once we did Now And Then and we got the all clear from Jeff [Lynne] that we had a good take to use, we all just looked at each other in silent not knowing what else to say as it really didn't hit us then that this was likely the last song we'd record as The Beatles. Instead we all just shook hands, quietly patted each other on the back hoping to see each other next time and we all left Friar Park without much thought and it was when I was driving away and half way on my journey that it only really hit me as I though, "Oh shit, that's it, the last Beatles song ever to be done". It really was the end and you really did think to yourself as what are you supposed to do now with yourself.Interview of Paul McCartney (2012)
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Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
Despite having completed all the recording, it wouldn't all over as final mixing would still need to be done in which George Martin would add the final touches by adding string sections to several songs mostly with Now And Then before Jeff Lynne would complete the final mixing with a planned release for the album for May yet it was the title of the album that everyone wanted to know though unbeknown to everyone behind the scenes, it would see a late last minute change for the title. It was planned that the title for album when recording would restart in February was to call the album Brainwashed Now And Then which of course was a combination of the two songs from Harrison and Lennon respectably in which the idea of the title was an in-joke that Beatles fans would be brainwashed now and then to love their work for all time.Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
However, while at first it had seemed like a fun idea to begin with, Lennon would admit to getting cold feet on the idea of the title feeling that the title might take away from Harrison's song which in turn was to be the finale song for the album and that him having the name of his own song added to the title would have felt rather tasteless in his eyes so he quietly asked for the title to be dropped to which the album would be revealed publicly to be simply called Brainwashed.
That said, it had been so close to be be given its original name that posters and other pieces of promotional material had already been made in which have often been the source of rare pieces to any hardcore Beatles fan's collection as those unreleased posters in particular do sell for some large amounts of money. That said, there have been some who have felt that the original title would have been better suited for the album but alas, it was not meant to be and thus Beatles 27 would become Brainwashed and the rest of the world could hardly wait for the release of that final album.
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Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
While nearly every Beatles album always had some kind of hype going into its release with many keen to hear what The Beatles had cooked up next, even for the standards of The Beatles there was nothing like the hype that had gone into the build to the release of Brainwashed prior to its release. The thought of the final ever Beatles album was something that few would have imagined or even had wanted to happen but here it was though some had suspected that the 'dead celebrity' bounce for a post humorous release in the wake of George Harrison's passing might have contributed to it to make this album feel more like an event and even if you weren't a Beatles or music fan in general this felt like a moment in history that you couldn't miss.Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
Even before one album had flown off the shelf, Brainwashed would record the highest pre-orders for any Beatles album before, actually even the highest of that year compared to other albums, such was the hype for this album and finally on May 10th 2002, Brainwashed would be released worldwide to the public and the image to long remember that album by was of any major record store across the world having people lined up as if going to see a big blockbuster film such was how demand to hear the final Beatles album had reached a fever pitch. Question was, would it all live up to the hype?
Brainwashed (2002)
1) Horse To The Water
2) Never Without You
3) Rising Sun
4) She's Given Up Talking
5) Not For Love, Nor Money
6) Marwa Blues
7) Grow Old With Me
8) Stuck Inside A Cloud
9) Heaven On A Sunday
10) Never Get Over You
11) Spinning On An Axis
12) Pisces Fish
13) Now And Then
14) Brainwashed
Upon its release, Brainwashed would be one of the fastest selling albums in history, even for Beatles standards this was something different and the album was at one point looking like it would become the highest selling album of 2002 but alas it would just be pipped at the post by The Eminem Show which would come out shortly afterwards. Thankfully, the album would receive positive reviews in which while many critics did say it wasn't quite up there with some of the band's other masterpiece albums, it was nonetheless still considered a fine album in its own right an a fitting finale for The Beatles.
Brainwashed itself is wildly considered one of the more emotional Beatles albums not just for the fact of being the last ever Beatles album but that many of the songs are of a more venerable nature such as Stuck Inside A Cloud and Never Without You coming to mind with Grow Old With Me and Now And Then being very much a feeling like full circle numbers for the album. Indeed, on its release, the album itself would be a difficult one for Beatles fans to listen to in which it was likely no one would have gotten thought the album once before shedding a few tears to the point when some Beatles fans would rather call the album Tearjerker instead because of this.
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Extract from 'Brainwashed: The Inside Story of The Final Beatles Album' by Hunter Davis
It was a loaded comment to make yet it wasn't totally untrue as over the years whenever some famous singer or songwriter would pass on, an album baring their name with some never before heard songs would be released so thus some felt as this was a period of 'Harrison-exploitation' in which the other Beatles denied greatly though nonetheless it did make some people think. But with that all said, the album itself was a success overall with Horse To The Water and Now And Then being released as singles to start off with in which the former would be a number one hit in both the UK and US charts (subsequently being added on reprints on 1 in the coming years too) though the very final Beatles album would be released with many of the songs from Brainwashed on what would be the eighth and final Beatles compilation album being The Beatles/Gold (1995 - 2002) released in time for the Christmas period which would bring a full circle of forty years of hits from 1962 to 2002 end neatly there and then.
While this might have seemed like the very end of The Beatles, there was still perhaps one final performance for the band in which would take exactly one year after Harrison's death at the Royal Albert Hall on November 29th 2002....
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Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
While there had been many countless tributes made for George Harrison following his death as well as countless covers of many of his songs being made in that time, there hadn't really been something like a farewell concert much like the emotional Freddie Mercury Tribute Show organised by Queen about a decade prior, nor had there been really what many felt would be a true farewell for The Beatles but that would change on November 29th 2002, exactly one year following Harrison's death. This event would of course be the Concert For George [6] in which was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the event was to be organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton.Extract from ‘Final Days Of The Beatles' by Alyson Henderson
It would perhaps one of the greatest tribute shows ever put on in which really was a microcosm of all those who Harrison had known in which the concert opened with a traditional Sanskrit invocation, the Sarvesham chant, followed by Indian music starting with Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar, playing Your Eyes before Brian Epstein would make his appearance on stage, one of his rare public appearances following Harrison's death, to welcome everyone to this event [7]. Next, Anoushka Shankar, Dhani Harrison, and Jeff Lynne performed the nearly forgotten Beatles number The Inner Light, followed by a Ravi Shankar composition Arpan (Sanskrit for 'to give'), specially written for the occasion.
Next, there was to be a comedy interlude with four of the surviving members of the Monty Python troupe (along with Python contributor Neil Innes) performing Sit on My Face. Then, Michael Palin came out as an over-the-top announcer who eventually states that he only ever wanted to be a lumberjack. He was then joined by the Pythons, Innes, Carol Cleveland, Tom Hanks, and The Fred Tomlinson Singers to perform The Lumberjack Song. There was something about seeing the members of Monty Python together to pay their tribute for Harrison for if not for him then likely the film Life Of Brian would never had been made and maybe perhaps Python's legacy would never had reached the major heights were it not for Harrison fighting tooth and nail to bring them to the top.
After that, the rest of the concert featured 'George's Band' and included the surviving members of the three remaining members of The Beatles, Harrison's son Dhani Harrison, as well as musicians Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston (this marking his brief reunion with The Beatles), Jools Holland, Albert Lee, Sam Brown, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Ray Cooper, Andy Fairweather-Low, Marc Mann, Dave Bronze, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and several other musicians who had appeared on Harrison's recordings over the years. The show would show how quite vast the line up was in which the show would feature the unexpected appearance of Nirvana, the youngest band there be told, in which would have to their name as the final band that Harrison would produce a record for and would pay tribute by performing Art of Dying and Hear My Lord staying faithful to both numbers in which were both well received despite some scepticism to them being there.
Other acts there would all perform keeping faithful to all of Harrison's songs such as Jeff Lynne performed I Want to Tell You and Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth); Eric Clapton on If I Needed Someone and Beware of Darkness; Tom Petty on I Need You and Taxman; Petty, Lynne, Dhani Harrison, and Keltner all then on Handle With Care (reuniting most of the surviving Traveling Wilburys except for Bob Dylan); Joe Brown with Here Comes The Sun and finally Clapton and Preston on Isn't It a Pity. After this, it was time for the three Beatles to take their part in the show in which Ringo Starr would appear first in which he would perform I'll Still Love You [8] and Photograph; Lennon would then take his bow in which he would perform Blow Away and Cheer Down before letting McCartney take his part in the show by performing For You Blue and All Things Must Pass before both he and Lennon along with Clapton would perform Something (McCartney would open with a solo ukulele accompaniment, an instrument that was one of Harrison's favourites, that would shift into a full band version featuring Clapton).
The rest of the show would see The Beatles as well the rest of the large supergroup to play out the rest of the show with numbers like Horse To The Water, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, My Sweet Lord and a group performance of Brainwashed [9]. Finally, Joe Brown would close the show out with an emotional rendition of I'll See You in My Dreams on ukulele and with that, it really was the end of an era that would be really one of the greatest tribute shows ever performed. Towards the end of the show as many of the performers would embrace one another to congratulate each other, Brian Epstein would emerge from the wings to embrace Lennon, McCartney and Starr in which was really a tearjerker moment given how this really was it; the end of The Beatles and of an era and the tears in Epstein's eyes showed what this meant for him.
As others left the stage and the audience would soon leave, Epstein would, after telling others to give him a private moment to quiet reflection, stand by the wings looking out at the slowly emptying Albert Hall with him looking back on the life he had done what this moment really meant for him. Others who were looking at him from a far could see his eyes glazed and a thoughtful look on his face as no doubt he was reflecting everything that had come to this moment. They might had been any thought really from all the way back from going down into that cellar full of noise in which he first met The Beatles in the Cavern, the rise of Beatlemania and the conquest of America, the studio years, the rise of Apple Corps as a huge media empire over the past thirty years, given Harrison his voice in which the rest of the band didn't seem to have time for him, all the other acts he had signed on for Apple, the many avenues that Epstein had taken the company away from just The Beatles to finally this moment here.
He really had done it all, he had succeeded in manage the world's greatest rock band to levels of height that surely no one else would ever reach yet there was a bittersweet aspect to it all that it was all over. Epstein felt he could keep going but he knew his mind might have been still sharp yet his body likely wasn't the same as before so what could he do now? Actually, what was there left to do now for him? He wouldn't say what he thought to anyone that evening as he finally left the stage and went backstage to meet with everyone else, half of which all owed it to Epstein for signing them onto Apple Records and given them the faith to reach their own level of success. But then again, who knows, maybe Epstein would find the next Beatles though it was a long shot for sure but now...maybe it was time to finally put his feet up and retire with grace?
One thing was for certain though, with the empire he had helped create from music, media, theme parks and computer that all were connected to him and that much of the world all took for granted, Sir Brian Epstein's fingerprints of that he had been part of now seemed to affect everyone and that maybe his legacy would be looked on far more than just The Beatles' gay manager but instead as a maverick in the entertainment world? Who was to say that anyone else would have the same sort of legacy as what Epstein would ever have? Who is to say had he died from that near overdose in 1967 that everything else still would have happened? It is a world that no one can barely comprehend how different it would be. Yes, there was only one Beatles, but there surely was only one Sir Brian Samuel Epstein OBE who without him, the world would have been a very different and worse place without him.
The End
[1] As with OTL.
[2] Same thing happened during the OTL Anthology though for John, ITTL it is shifted to Harrison instead.
[3] The song is mostly the same though is now a Starkey/Lennon/McCartney piece.
[4] One of the lost Lennon songs gets their moment to shine on here.
[5] Very much the last Beatles song like with OTL though much earlier given it is ITTL the last Beatles song recorded for that album.
[6] Pretty much the same concert from OTL though with some different acts given who Harrison would have interacted with ITTL such as Nirvana.
[7] Epstein takes the place of Clapton as the master of ceremonies ITTL which is pretty much fitting for him.
[8] Takes the place of Honey Don't as there is more Harrison songs to play here.
[9] With Wah-Wah never being written ITTL, it instead is played with a big jam version of Brainwashed which with that band would have sounded epic.
Well then, this is it, the final chapter of The Fingerprints Of Epstein, perhaps the most extensive Beatles TL ever written if I dare say so? Well, it is hard to imagine that when I started this, it was only done as a world to write up the fantasy Beatles albums I had come up with over a year ago to give them a reason to exist and in some ways it is kind of ironic to being like why JRR Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings being as just a world for his Elvish language to exist the same way as I wrote up this fantasy Beatles albums too in a way. But yeah, I will admit it does hit you when you realise that a huge TL you have written for all this time is now at an end is a feeling you don't know what to think.
After seeing all the Beatles TL's over the years, I will admit I never thought I'd actually do one myself but alas I've only just not only done one but completed it which is kind of crazy. However, this would not had been possible with all the support each and everyone of you who had read this from the very start to now the final chapter is something I can only thank you all from the bottom of my heart as you all kept me going to get this TL to where it is now. Anyway, it isn't quite the end yet as we have two epilogue chapters (or rather I should say Eppy-logue in terms of who the main character of this TL is) being a picture update and finally the true final chapter which takes up to the near present day of 2018 which is where this TL will finally end. So once again, thank you all for the support and there is still one last hurrah to come next and the question then would be a case of what now?
I have ideas of starting a spin-off TL is demand is there for an interacted TL in which I'd like to imagine you, the reader to write up chapters of how ITTL you or maybe write up a fictional character of some kind, would be like during the events of ITTL such as who they are, where they come from and how this world affects them. This is just an idea floating about that I need time to think about, maybe in the next update so once more...see you all next time for the last two updates for this TL.
Can I just say how beautiful of an ending you've created. This is one of the top-notch AUs and you gave it the final album it deserves. The only thing I hope to see for the Eppy-logue is what bands and singers Apple signed in the 2000s and 2010s, and maybe the Beatles: Rock Band. Asides from that, I couldn't ask for anything better.
Intermission - Images from 'The Fingerprints of Epstein' 1995 - 2002
Now then, the penultimate chapter for this TL in which we go a wee while back in which we have that good old intermission update in which is the image update from the course of the years between 1995 to 2002 and I'm aware many of you have been waiting for this certain update so without wasting more time, here we go again with this sort of update for the last time!
Ringo Starr being interviewed in 1995
Paul and Linda McCartney with Ringo Starr during an event in 1997
McCartney and Harrison during the recording of the album Flaming Pie in 1997
John Lennon seen heading for an TV interview in 1998
First version of the Flaming Pie album cover before it would be tweaked prior to release
George Harrison with Jeff Lynne during work on Anthology in 1995
Just some of the many thousands prior during The Beatles' Glastonbury performance in 1999
Newspaper front cover announcing the death of Harrison in 2001
Harrison during an interview at Friar Park in 2000
McCartney during his and Lennon's performance at the Concert for New York City in 2001
Harrison and McCartney during the recording and mixing of Flaming Pie in 1997
Well then, that is the last photo update for this TL. Not much to add to this other than just some photos have been edited to reflect the time period as best as they can be done. Also, if it is possible, I would honestly love it if someone could create a TV tropes page for this TL as while I would like to do it myself, I'm afraid I'm not all that good at making that sort of stuff but I'm sure one of you reading this would no doubt be better at this than I am. Anyway, thank you all again for sticking in as next up will be the final update of the TL being the epilogue or rather I should say Eppy-logue that has the TL lead forward some 16 years later from 2002 to 2018 which many of you will be wanting to see how it all ends.
So once again, thank you all for tuning in and stay tuned for the final update...until then, see you all soon!
Paul and Linda McCartney with Ringo Starr during an event in 1997
McCartney and Harrison during the recording of the album Flaming Pie in 1997
John Lennon seen heading for an TV interview in 1998
Sir Brian Epstein seen as of 1999
George and Oliva Harrison together at Friar Park in 2000
McCartney during The Beatles Live At The Cavern Club performance in 1999
Ringo and wife Barbara as seen in 1998
McCartney performing during The Beatles' Glastonbury performance in 1999
Starr, McCartney, Harrison and George Martin during the recording of Anthology in 1995, Lennon is the one taking the photo
The Beatles during the recording of the song Beautiful Night in 1997
The Harrison family arriving at the funeral of Linda McCartney in 1998
The surviving Beatles as well as many of George Harrison's friends all playing together during the Concert For George in 2002
Part of the front cover for the final Beatles album Brainwashed. The five crash test dummies are likely a reference to Five Beatles with Epstein likely being the fifth member on the cover.
George and Oliva Harrison together at Friar Park in 2000
McCartney during The Beatles Live At The Cavern Club performance in 1999
Ringo and wife Barbara as seen in 1998
McCartney performing during The Beatles' Glastonbury performance in 1999
Starr, McCartney, Harrison and George Martin during the recording of Anthology in 1995, Lennon is the one taking the photo
The Beatles during the recording of the song Beautiful Night in 1997
The Harrison family arriving at the funeral of Linda McCartney in 1998
The surviving Beatles as well as many of George Harrison's friends all playing together during the Concert For George in 2002
First version of the Flaming Pie album cover before it would be tweaked prior to release
Just some of the many thousands prior during The Beatles' Glastonbury performance in 1999
Newspaper front cover announcing the death of Harrison in 2001
Harrison during an interview at Friar Park in 2000
McCartney during his and Lennon's performance at the Concert for New York City in 2001
Harrison and McCartney during the recording and mixing of Flaming Pie in 1997
Well then, that is the last photo update for this TL. Not much to add to this other than just some photos have been edited to reflect the time period as best as they can be done. Also, if it is possible, I would honestly love it if someone could create a TV tropes page for this TL as while I would like to do it myself, I'm afraid I'm not all that good at making that sort of stuff but I'm sure one of you reading this would no doubt be better at this than I am. Anyway, thank you all again for sticking in as next up will be the final update of the TL being the epilogue or rather I should say Eppy-logue that has the TL lead forward some 16 years later from 2002 to 2018 which many of you will be wanting to see how it all ends.
So once again, thank you all for tuning in and stay tuned for the final update...until then, see you all soon!
The Beatles during their Cloud Nine tour
Harrison preforming a soundcheck
John Lennon and Kurt Cobain at Abbey Road
Alice Lennon being interviewed for Anthology
The Beatles during a photo shoot for Anthology
Another photograph form the same session
Earliest known photograph of the band during the Flaming Pie sessions
The Beatles recreating the cover of Abbey Road in 1999 for its 30th anniversary
John Lennon in photographed In Brighton 2000
The final meeting of The Beatles
Note: most of these pictures aren’t mineAlice Lennon being interviewed for Anthology
The Beatles during a photo shoot for Anthology
Another photograph form the same session
Earliest known photograph of the band during the Flaming Pie sessions
The Beatles recreating the cover of Abbey Road in 1999 for its 30th anniversary
John Lennon in photographed In Brighton 2000
The final meeting of The Beatles
Last edited:
Eppy-Logue: 18 Years Later
Well then, this is it, the final ever chapter of TFOE. For many questions that you might ask about what happened later on ITTL well, lets all find out then as we go into this epilogue, or rather I should say Eppy-logue given who this TL is about really...
Eppy-Logue: 18 Years Later
2018; 18 years since that emotionally charged Concert For George in which had seen the surviving Beatles as well as many of George Harrison’s friends all coming together to present a show to say farewell to the fallen Beatle. It was also to mark the 50th anniversary of Apple Corps coming into existence in which had grown from its humble roots to becoming a global media empire that some would say could rival Disney and for good reason. With its impressive music catalogue, awarding winning film and animation departments that would give the best of America a run for their money, their electronics department which had now expanded from computers into phones such being the iApple phones and even iApple Ipads that half of the world's population now all seem to have showing how vast Apple's grip on the world has gotten and that is not mentioning the theme parks that Apple have dotted around the world which while perhaps not quite as extensive as say the likes of what Disney or Universal have to offer, Apple still feel like that they can compete with them.
As always, even after the ending of The Beatles, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney had both enjoyed that good old competitive rivalry in releasing their own solo albums throughout the years following the end of The Beatles in 2002 in which both would have great success with their respective albums and live tours though it was felt that while McCartney might've been the better live performer, Lennon would win out with perhaps the better albums. Regarding personal lives, the two men couldn't had been been very different in which following the death of Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney would have a rather troublesome aftermath in which he would marry former model and anti-landmine campaigner Heather Mills in which they would first meet in 2000 and would marry in 2002 yet John Lennon would express his concerns to his fellow bandmate that he was not comfortable with yet McCartney would shrug this off but alas as what everyone would know, the couple would divorce not longer after in 2008 being all well documented and sadly proving Lennon's doubts about her to be correct. It wouldn't be some years later in 2011 in which McCartney would marry Nancy Shevell in which thankfully would be a more stable affair with the couple still married after all this time.
If McCartney's love life had been a crazy tale of drama, John Lennon's love life in contrast had been a more relaxed affair in which despite two failed marriages prior, it had been truly third time lucky with May Lennon in which they would remain together ever since to the point that it would be rather boring to talk about other than the fact that their children Sean and Alice had both grown up as well rounded people with Sean being interested in music like his father while Alice would take up more of her father's political outlook though never to the extend of standing on soap box type mentally. Speaking of which, it would be that thanks to Alice Lennon that the families of the Lennon and Harrison clan would be bonded in which during 2007, Alice would start a relationship with Dhani Harrison, the son of the late George Harrison though the pair had, much like the rest of the other children of The Beatles all knew each other before hand with all the time they had been in the vicinity of a recording studio seeing their respective fathers record music. The couple would eventually become engaged and would marry in 2009 in a moment that would of course raise the attention of much of the press of seeing two quarters of The Beatles families coming together in what some might cry as nepotism at the highest order.
Despite some scepticism with the couple, they had remained together ever since and in 2012, the couple would have their first child, a girl called Louise who can boast for being the only person in the whole world to having both grandfathers as Beatles and who is to say what she might turn out to be like. In addition to this, Louise's birth marked the moment that both John and George (posthumous of course for the later) for being grandparents at last in which meant that finally all four Beatles could claim to having now grown into being grandparents showing how far that all four had come. In the years that had followed as what the remaining Beatles had stated, no new Beatles album had come out in that time other than the several remasters of anniversary edition albums being released over the years though they had had worked with each other on various solo projects with Paul McCartney and John Lennon still giving away songs to Ringo Starr for his albums like as before though nothing on the scale of a Beatles reunion was ever seriously discussed knowing that without Harrison, there was no point for it to happen.
That being said, the three remaining Beatles had now and then come together for special one-off shows such as in 2014 in which to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, they would perform on the television special called The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles with the audience as diverse from ages, music backgrounds and all sorts showing just how much The Beatles appealed to a whole generation. 2014 would also mark not just another Beatles reunion performance but also it being a true Merseybeat celebration being another TV special called Epstein At 80 which was an event filmed at the Liverpool Arena in September 2014 to mark Sir Brian Epstein’s 80th birthday. It would see a mega performance of almost every single Liverpool music act from the 1960’s onwards which other than just The Beatles (who would have the honours of closing out the show) featured the surviving members of Jerry and the Pacemakers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Atomic Kitten, Rebecca Ferguson and Echo & the Bunnymen just to name a few all of which were there to give tribute to the man himself there in attendance.
Other than music acts, other Liverpool actors and comics would all take turns hosting such as Ken Dodd, Paul McGann, Craig Charles and Ricky Tomlinson all singing Epstein’s praises and what he had done for Liverpool in terms of making the city perhaps the capital of pop music as what the late Michael Jackson would refer to the city as with many there all having in one way or the other to thank Epstein for his efforts. The event itself was in many ways Liverpool’s answer to the legendary Motown 25 performance in which with so many of Liverpool represented in that show, the likes of which would never be all seen again, and when during the closing act of Hey Jude in which every Liverpudlian act was on stage, Epstein would also be invited on stage to a standing ovation from the audience in which could be seen as Liverpool's greatest moment of sheer talent all in the same place together.
As such a historic moment of a show that it was, those seeing Epstein could see a man who with his greying hair and wrinkled face was a man past his prime and one that seemed to have a bittersweet look about him and in truth this was that by this point, Epstein had long since fallen out of love with the music business for over a decade now. The death of George Harrison had been a tough one for everyone at Apple Corps but Epstein seemed to have taken it badly more than perhaps the rest of the band. With Harrison being the youngest, and the fact that Epstein had been at the very start of The Beatles' rise to the top, it had all felt like a parent losing their child in which the joy had all but been snuffed out and Epstein knew that no matter whoever joined Apple's ranks in the following years, likely none of them would be able to recreate what The Beatles had done before; it was a foolish idea to ask him who would the next Beatles be as there would never be another Beatles.
In that time prior before and after Harrison's death, Epstein did still have to rubber stamp a music act to give his approval if they would be worthy enough to join Apple and there would be several of them joining. Perhaps the most unusual act would be the animated music group called Gorillaz, a creation of musician of long-time Apple colleague Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett which would go on to be the most successful animated group of all time and have been with Apple ever since, not to mention the creativity for both music and various animated skits and music videos all needed for the band all easily provided by Apple makes of a perfect match. That would be one of the last 'big' names that Epstein would approve on in the year 2000 in which after 2001 in the wake of Harrison's death, Epstein never had the same love of music ever again.
He would take a far more backseat role in which he would finally release his control on Apple Music in 2003 in which the British band McFly would be the final music act that Epstein would personally approve to the label, after that Jeff Jones would take up that role in overlooking Apple's music division. Epstein would admit some years after stepping down from watching over the music side of the company was that other than him not having the same love for it as before, he would admit his concerns of his fear of the music industry as a whole as more manufactured music has become more common in which music stars these days rarely, if ever, right their own music these days and with the rise of AI in music, his concerns seemed to have to become more apparent than ever and the future of Apple Music, the very foundation of Apple Corps is one that no one can really tell the future of in the coming years.
In contrast however, Epstein would turn his attentions more into the world of theme parks as like a well oiled machine, Apple Corps had now taken the whole business in their stride with not only their existing parks all improving and changing over the years, new ones would open up in which in 2004, the fourth Apple park would open its doors to the public. Formally known as Wonderland Sydney, Apple World Australia would open to the public and it was a dramatic transformation in ever sense of the word in which while it had all the usual traits from the other Apple parks, but this one would actually instead of a Myths and Legends area would instead have a whole Middle-Earth themed area based on the works of Apple's mega successful Lord of the Rings film trilogy though it did cause some controversary for those in New Zealand given how that they had filmed the whole trilogy in their country, the thought of the nearby Aussies getting their own Middle-Earth park when they did nothing to make that series of films wasn't something that didn't go down with many a Kiwi.
Nonetheless, the new park would be a major hit yet plans for further Apple parks weren't stopping there in which over the next few years, the hopes of having a park in both Africa or South America remain ongoing though these plans were rocked by the outbreak of the 2008 recession that would force these plans to be shelved for the time being. As the years went on as the world moved into the 2010s, Epstein's health began to fail in which he began to suffer from diabetes from as early as 2009 but would get worse and worse over time in which so much so, he would make the announcement in 2011 of finally stepping down as the chairman of Apple Corps after an epic length of time as chairman in order to focus on his health as well as finally enjoy his long overdue retirement. The question was who would replace him?
Epstein had made no secret of picking Steve Jobs for the role and would it not been for his untimely death in 2011, just as Epstein was retiring ironically, Jobs would have been made the chairman of Apple Corps. In the end, they would look outside of the company in which it would be British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe who would become the new chairman of Apple Corps who promised to keep the legacy of Apple going and has remained in that position ever since wanting to carry on Epstein's legacy but knows too well that he will likely never be like Epstein for what that man had created. For the man himself, the remaining few years would see Epstein live out the remaining days of his life peacefully in which he could reflect on the life he had lived though his diabetes would be a constant source of trouble for him as his appearances would be less frequent in which that 2014 appearance to appear in that show in his honour would show how he was looking rather poorly these days despite putting on a brave smile for all.
Though no longer on the main Board of Directors, he still held a considerable amount of clout being a major shareholder in the company still and would often still be asked for advice as such though he would insist to the new Apple Corps that whatever they did is that they should not mess around with politics and instead should focus on produce quality products for everyone to enjoy and in some ways this has been something that has been a worthwhile choice in which following the Walt Disney Company's recent list of failures that has seen it badly burnt following its push for so-called Identity Politics, many will argue that Apple Corps dodged a bullet and that many would argue that by the end of the 2020s if Disney still keeps shooting itself in the foot then Apple could overtake Disney as the biggest entertainment company on the planet.
An unthinkable idea that would have seemed like utter lunacy even as early as the early 2000s but then again a lot can happen in several years. That being said, Epstein would not be around to see if that prediction would become true for in 2018 as the company was celebrating its 50th birthday, Epstein's health began to worsen throughout the year to the point in which he had pretty much retired from public gatherings though had never officially announced it in order not to raise questions even though some did suspect that he wasn't well so thus, Epstein would remain at his home at Chapel Street in London; the very same home that some 51 years he had nearly died of an overdose, 51 years that might have all looked very different had he died then.
He would find himself bedridden for a lot of the time but still had a friendly face for those working for him asking them how they were doing and what was happening in the world but there would be times he would be wanting to sleep most days. On his 84th birthday on September 19th, he would invite the three remaining Beatles to his home for what was a private affair in which The Beatles would recall how their former manager was asking questions such as, "Did I do good?" or "Was I good leader?" to name a few though a more armoured piercing question would be, "Did I help George out for the better?" being of course about the late Harrison in which he had helped in those days of the White Album in which he had helped Harrison find his voice.
The other Beatles didn't know what to say to that other than agree that Epstein had done good and though they wouldn't quite know what to think of why he was acting like this though the truth was that Epstein knew that he had not long to live and just wanted this moment that if he was to die now, he wanted to see the band for one last time and if this was the last time he would see them, so be it as with hindsight, that meeting would be the very last time that The Beatles would see Epstein. Of course, he would linger on, still bedridden by the time October rolled around in which by the time October 5th came around, his health had worsened and there would be times he would slip in and out of consciousness and requested for the nurse to play the song In My Life from The Beatles' album Rubber Soul to be played. The nurse, confused by this, would grant Epstein's request and he would listen to the music lying there with the look of a man who was listening to the perfect song that was about reflection on life.
In that moment, he would have seen flashbacks for the life he had taken ranging from his early childhood, first meeting The Beatles, the rise and fall of Beatlemania, his near death, his adventures around the world, the formation of Apple Corps, the many other music acts signed, himself coming out and finally the death of George Harrison which meant the end of that famous band to now where Epstein was now. Reportedly, he would then ask the nurse over after the song had finished and asked, "Did I do good?" In which before the nurse could answer, Epstein's eyes closed and he stopped breathing. Sir Brian Samuel Epstein, the man behind The Beatles, sometimes known as the British Walt Disney or a true titan of entertainment or even an icon of some kind, had passed away peacefully and with that, it really was the end of an era.
Following the announcement of his death, tributes would pour in from across the world to say his praises and the life he had lived in which while Epstein might have been aware that others looked up to fondly, he too would have been shocked by how many mourned his passing. From musicians, actors, politicians and just anyone that was anyone would all say that Epstein was the true fifth Beatle who without him, there wouldn't be a Beatles or even a world that in some ways Epstein had created just went to show just how vast Epstein's legacy had endured. It wouldn't be until November 2nd that the funeral would take place in Liverpool in which was a city that had been left devasted by his passing in which the sense of loss was greatly felt in which they all knew that he had played a huge part in putting their city on the map as the centre of music and entertainment. The LGBT+ community in Liverpool would also be affected by his passing noting that even if he liked it or not, he was an icon that had been trailblazer that helped paved the way greater acceptance and understanding.
The funeral itself would be perhaps the closest event for a state occasion that the city would perform to, not even George Harrison could have had the same honours when he passed away. The funeral would take place at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in which for being such a grand and iconic venue meant that not only was it a fitting tribute to pay tribute for the man but also for the vast and diverse crowd of mourners in attendance and it really was a truly amazing who's who of the music world. While the obvious members there would be the three surviving Beatles and their families, in which all three would perform each a eulogy for Epstein, but also there would be others from Elton John, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and the surviving members of Queen as one would expect, everyone else was practically not just from the Apple label but from all others from outside the Apple family in which the likes of Madonna, Metallica Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 were just a handful of examples of who were there which just went to show how much Epstein had meant to everyone in the music industry.
To see such a huge collection of star power there to pay tribute to Epstein was a sight to behold in which the likes of which would perhaps never be seen again in which Liverpool really was in that moment the capital of music. It was an emotional day in which really was the passing of an age, an age that would likely never happy again and in the years following his death, Epstein had began to see a long retrospective on his life in which many felt that while the comparisons to Walt Disney were valid, many felt that perhaps he was an even greater man that Disney and that he should be marked as one of the 20th century's greatest ever men that was far more than just simply the manager of The Beatles. Finally on August 27th 2022, on the year that would have been his 92nd birthday, a bronze statue of Sir Brian Epstein was unveiled near the former site of his family's NEMS record shop in Liverpool in which would have him walking in the direction of the Cavern Club in which he would first meet The Beatles.
How future generations will view him and by extension the rest of The Beatles in the same glowing light as what this generation hold both in remains to be seen by while others would have a simple gravestone for a famous person who had passed on, Epstein doesn't need that in which the theme parks his created, the empire that is Apple Corps is his tribute that perhaps is far greater than what anyone can do for him and even people who use iApple computers or phones can all be traced back to Epstein showing that it seems future generations will all feel the fingerprints of Epstein in the years that are yet to follow. Finally, in what is perhaps one of Epstein's favourite ever lyrics from a Beatles song ever being from The End, are pretty much his outlook on life and that is the following that he would wish everyone would follow in troubled times:
1934 - 2018
....And that's it. The very last chapter of The Fingerprints of Epstein, this epic Beatles TL has finally come to an end. I'm actually stunned that it is finally over after all this time in which I never thought I'd ever do a Beatles TL as I only did this to give a world simply for my fantasy Beatles albums to exist and as you can see, it all became a little bit more than that to something I never thought it would become.
All I can say again is thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart who have followed this crazy journey from the start to this very point in which I'd actually complete this TL that I never thought I'd do but thanks to all your support, you have helped me get over the line to get it done and now I'm left in a state of shock of a case of 'now what?' I'll likely still tweak some bits of this TL over time as I have thought about someday if is possible to published this TL sometime in the near future yet I'm not sure where to begin on this factor but it is something to think about over time.
Anyway, It is something to say that this TL, perhaps the biggest Beatles TL here on this website, has come to an end and I just hoped that it was all worth it for all of those who were there from the start to read this TL. It has been a honour to entertain you all and hope it won't be long until I write up something new, any ideas what I could do next? Until then, goodbye all and thank you all.
Eppy-Logue: 18 Years Later
2018; 18 years since that emotionally charged Concert For George in which had seen the surviving Beatles as well as many of George Harrison’s friends all coming together to present a show to say farewell to the fallen Beatle. It was also to mark the 50th anniversary of Apple Corps coming into existence in which had grown from its humble roots to becoming a global media empire that some would say could rival Disney and for good reason. With its impressive music catalogue, awarding winning film and animation departments that would give the best of America a run for their money, their electronics department which had now expanded from computers into phones such being the iApple phones and even iApple Ipads that half of the world's population now all seem to have showing how vast Apple's grip on the world has gotten and that is not mentioning the theme parks that Apple have dotted around the world which while perhaps not quite as extensive as say the likes of what Disney or Universal have to offer, Apple still feel like that they can compete with them.
As always, even after the ending of The Beatles, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney had both enjoyed that good old competitive rivalry in releasing their own solo albums throughout the years following the end of The Beatles in 2002 in which both would have great success with their respective albums and live tours though it was felt that while McCartney might've been the better live performer, Lennon would win out with perhaps the better albums. Regarding personal lives, the two men couldn't had been been very different in which following the death of Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney would have a rather troublesome aftermath in which he would marry former model and anti-landmine campaigner Heather Mills in which they would first meet in 2000 and would marry in 2002 yet John Lennon would express his concerns to his fellow bandmate that he was not comfortable with yet McCartney would shrug this off but alas as what everyone would know, the couple would divorce not longer after in 2008 being all well documented and sadly proving Lennon's doubts about her to be correct. It wouldn't be some years later in 2011 in which McCartney would marry Nancy Shevell in which thankfully would be a more stable affair with the couple still married after all this time.
If McCartney's love life had been a crazy tale of drama, John Lennon's love life in contrast had been a more relaxed affair in which despite two failed marriages prior, it had been truly third time lucky with May Lennon in which they would remain together ever since to the point that it would be rather boring to talk about other than the fact that their children Sean and Alice had both grown up as well rounded people with Sean being interested in music like his father while Alice would take up more of her father's political outlook though never to the extend of standing on soap box type mentally. Speaking of which, it would be that thanks to Alice Lennon that the families of the Lennon and Harrison clan would be bonded in which during 2007, Alice would start a relationship with Dhani Harrison, the son of the late George Harrison though the pair had, much like the rest of the other children of The Beatles all knew each other before hand with all the time they had been in the vicinity of a recording studio seeing their respective fathers record music. The couple would eventually become engaged and would marry in 2009 in a moment that would of course raise the attention of much of the press of seeing two quarters of The Beatles families coming together in what some might cry as nepotism at the highest order.
Despite some scepticism with the couple, they had remained together ever since and in 2012, the couple would have their first child, a girl called Louise who can boast for being the only person in the whole world to having both grandfathers as Beatles and who is to say what she might turn out to be like. In addition to this, Louise's birth marked the moment that both John and George (posthumous of course for the later) for being grandparents at last in which meant that finally all four Beatles could claim to having now grown into being grandparents showing how far that all four had come. In the years that had followed as what the remaining Beatles had stated, no new Beatles album had come out in that time other than the several remasters of anniversary edition albums being released over the years though they had had worked with each other on various solo projects with Paul McCartney and John Lennon still giving away songs to Ringo Starr for his albums like as before though nothing on the scale of a Beatles reunion was ever seriously discussed knowing that without Harrison, there was no point for it to happen.
That being said, the three remaining Beatles had now and then come together for special one-off shows such as in 2014 in which to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, they would perform on the television special called The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles with the audience as diverse from ages, music backgrounds and all sorts showing just how much The Beatles appealed to a whole generation. 2014 would also mark not just another Beatles reunion performance but also it being a true Merseybeat celebration being another TV special called Epstein At 80 which was an event filmed at the Liverpool Arena in September 2014 to mark Sir Brian Epstein’s 80th birthday. It would see a mega performance of almost every single Liverpool music act from the 1960’s onwards which other than just The Beatles (who would have the honours of closing out the show) featured the surviving members of Jerry and the Pacemakers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Atomic Kitten, Rebecca Ferguson and Echo & the Bunnymen just to name a few all of which were there to give tribute to the man himself there in attendance.
Other than music acts, other Liverpool actors and comics would all take turns hosting such as Ken Dodd, Paul McGann, Craig Charles and Ricky Tomlinson all singing Epstein’s praises and what he had done for Liverpool in terms of making the city perhaps the capital of pop music as what the late Michael Jackson would refer to the city as with many there all having in one way or the other to thank Epstein for his efforts. The event itself was in many ways Liverpool’s answer to the legendary Motown 25 performance in which with so many of Liverpool represented in that show, the likes of which would never be all seen again, and when during the closing act of Hey Jude in which every Liverpudlian act was on stage, Epstein would also be invited on stage to a standing ovation from the audience in which could be seen as Liverpool's greatest moment of sheer talent all in the same place together.
As such a historic moment of a show that it was, those seeing Epstein could see a man who with his greying hair and wrinkled face was a man past his prime and one that seemed to have a bittersweet look about him and in truth this was that by this point, Epstein had long since fallen out of love with the music business for over a decade now. The death of George Harrison had been a tough one for everyone at Apple Corps but Epstein seemed to have taken it badly more than perhaps the rest of the band. With Harrison being the youngest, and the fact that Epstein had been at the very start of The Beatles' rise to the top, it had all felt like a parent losing their child in which the joy had all but been snuffed out and Epstein knew that no matter whoever joined Apple's ranks in the following years, likely none of them would be able to recreate what The Beatles had done before; it was a foolish idea to ask him who would the next Beatles be as there would never be another Beatles.
In that time prior before and after Harrison's death, Epstein did still have to rubber stamp a music act to give his approval if they would be worthy enough to join Apple and there would be several of them joining. Perhaps the most unusual act would be the animated music group called Gorillaz, a creation of musician of long-time Apple colleague Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett which would go on to be the most successful animated group of all time and have been with Apple ever since, not to mention the creativity for both music and various animated skits and music videos all needed for the band all easily provided by Apple makes of a perfect match. That would be one of the last 'big' names that Epstein would approve on in the year 2000 in which after 2001 in the wake of Harrison's death, Epstein never had the same love of music ever again.
He would take a far more backseat role in which he would finally release his control on Apple Music in 2003 in which the British band McFly would be the final music act that Epstein would personally approve to the label, after that Jeff Jones would take up that role in overlooking Apple's music division. Epstein would admit some years after stepping down from watching over the music side of the company was that other than him not having the same love for it as before, he would admit his concerns of his fear of the music industry as a whole as more manufactured music has become more common in which music stars these days rarely, if ever, right their own music these days and with the rise of AI in music, his concerns seemed to have to become more apparent than ever and the future of Apple Music, the very foundation of Apple Corps is one that no one can really tell the future of in the coming years.
In contrast however, Epstein would turn his attentions more into the world of theme parks as like a well oiled machine, Apple Corps had now taken the whole business in their stride with not only their existing parks all improving and changing over the years, new ones would open up in which in 2004, the fourth Apple park would open its doors to the public. Formally known as Wonderland Sydney, Apple World Australia would open to the public and it was a dramatic transformation in ever sense of the word in which while it had all the usual traits from the other Apple parks, but this one would actually instead of a Myths and Legends area would instead have a whole Middle-Earth themed area based on the works of Apple's mega successful Lord of the Rings film trilogy though it did cause some controversary for those in New Zealand given how that they had filmed the whole trilogy in their country, the thought of the nearby Aussies getting their own Middle-Earth park when they did nothing to make that series of films wasn't something that didn't go down with many a Kiwi.
Nonetheless, the new park would be a major hit yet plans for further Apple parks weren't stopping there in which over the next few years, the hopes of having a park in both Africa or South America remain ongoing though these plans were rocked by the outbreak of the 2008 recession that would force these plans to be shelved for the time being. As the years went on as the world moved into the 2010s, Epstein's health began to fail in which he began to suffer from diabetes from as early as 2009 but would get worse and worse over time in which so much so, he would make the announcement in 2011 of finally stepping down as the chairman of Apple Corps after an epic length of time as chairman in order to focus on his health as well as finally enjoy his long overdue retirement. The question was who would replace him?
Epstein had made no secret of picking Steve Jobs for the role and would it not been for his untimely death in 2011, just as Epstein was retiring ironically, Jobs would have been made the chairman of Apple Corps. In the end, they would look outside of the company in which it would be British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe who would become the new chairman of Apple Corps who promised to keep the legacy of Apple going and has remained in that position ever since wanting to carry on Epstein's legacy but knows too well that he will likely never be like Epstein for what that man had created. For the man himself, the remaining few years would see Epstein live out the remaining days of his life peacefully in which he could reflect on the life he had lived though his diabetes would be a constant source of trouble for him as his appearances would be less frequent in which that 2014 appearance to appear in that show in his honour would show how he was looking rather poorly these days despite putting on a brave smile for all.
Though no longer on the main Board of Directors, he still held a considerable amount of clout being a major shareholder in the company still and would often still be asked for advice as such though he would insist to the new Apple Corps that whatever they did is that they should not mess around with politics and instead should focus on produce quality products for everyone to enjoy and in some ways this has been something that has been a worthwhile choice in which following the Walt Disney Company's recent list of failures that has seen it badly burnt following its push for so-called Identity Politics, many will argue that Apple Corps dodged a bullet and that many would argue that by the end of the 2020s if Disney still keeps shooting itself in the foot then Apple could overtake Disney as the biggest entertainment company on the planet.
An unthinkable idea that would have seemed like utter lunacy even as early as the early 2000s but then again a lot can happen in several years. That being said, Epstein would not be around to see if that prediction would become true for in 2018 as the company was celebrating its 50th birthday, Epstein's health began to worsen throughout the year to the point in which he had pretty much retired from public gatherings though had never officially announced it in order not to raise questions even though some did suspect that he wasn't well so thus, Epstein would remain at his home at Chapel Street in London; the very same home that some 51 years he had nearly died of an overdose, 51 years that might have all looked very different had he died then.
He would find himself bedridden for a lot of the time but still had a friendly face for those working for him asking them how they were doing and what was happening in the world but there would be times he would be wanting to sleep most days. On his 84th birthday on September 19th, he would invite the three remaining Beatles to his home for what was a private affair in which The Beatles would recall how their former manager was asking questions such as, "Did I do good?" or "Was I good leader?" to name a few though a more armoured piercing question would be, "Did I help George out for the better?" being of course about the late Harrison in which he had helped in those days of the White Album in which he had helped Harrison find his voice.
The other Beatles didn't know what to say to that other than agree that Epstein had done good and though they wouldn't quite know what to think of why he was acting like this though the truth was that Epstein knew that he had not long to live and just wanted this moment that if he was to die now, he wanted to see the band for one last time and if this was the last time he would see them, so be it as with hindsight, that meeting would be the very last time that The Beatles would see Epstein. Of course, he would linger on, still bedridden by the time October rolled around in which by the time October 5th came around, his health had worsened and there would be times he would slip in and out of consciousness and requested for the nurse to play the song In My Life from The Beatles' album Rubber Soul to be played. The nurse, confused by this, would grant Epstein's request and he would listen to the music lying there with the look of a man who was listening to the perfect song that was about reflection on life.
In that moment, he would have seen flashbacks for the life he had taken ranging from his early childhood, first meeting The Beatles, the rise and fall of Beatlemania, his near death, his adventures around the world, the formation of Apple Corps, the many other music acts signed, himself coming out and finally the death of George Harrison which meant the end of that famous band to now where Epstein was now. Reportedly, he would then ask the nurse over after the song had finished and asked, "Did I do good?" In which before the nurse could answer, Epstein's eyes closed and he stopped breathing. Sir Brian Samuel Epstein, the man behind The Beatles, sometimes known as the British Walt Disney or a true titan of entertainment or even an icon of some kind, had passed away peacefully and with that, it really was the end of an era.
Following the announcement of his death, tributes would pour in from across the world to say his praises and the life he had lived in which while Epstein might have been aware that others looked up to fondly, he too would have been shocked by how many mourned his passing. From musicians, actors, politicians and just anyone that was anyone would all say that Epstein was the true fifth Beatle who without him, there wouldn't be a Beatles or even a world that in some ways Epstein had created just went to show just how vast Epstein's legacy had endured. It wouldn't be until November 2nd that the funeral would take place in Liverpool in which was a city that had been left devasted by his passing in which the sense of loss was greatly felt in which they all knew that he had played a huge part in putting their city on the map as the centre of music and entertainment. The LGBT+ community in Liverpool would also be affected by his passing noting that even if he liked it or not, he was an icon that had been trailblazer that helped paved the way greater acceptance and understanding.
The funeral itself would be perhaps the closest event for a state occasion that the city would perform to, not even George Harrison could have had the same honours when he passed away. The funeral would take place at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in which for being such a grand and iconic venue meant that not only was it a fitting tribute to pay tribute for the man but also for the vast and diverse crowd of mourners in attendance and it really was a truly amazing who's who of the music world. While the obvious members there would be the three surviving Beatles and their families, in which all three would perform each a eulogy for Epstein, but also there would be others from Elton John, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and the surviving members of Queen as one would expect, everyone else was practically not just from the Apple label but from all others from outside the Apple family in which the likes of Madonna, Metallica Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 were just a handful of examples of who were there which just went to show how much Epstein had meant to everyone in the music industry.
To see such a huge collection of star power there to pay tribute to Epstein was a sight to behold in which the likes of which would perhaps never be seen again in which Liverpool really was in that moment the capital of music. It was an emotional day in which really was the passing of an age, an age that would likely never happy again and in the years following his death, Epstein had began to see a long retrospective on his life in which many felt that while the comparisons to Walt Disney were valid, many felt that perhaps he was an even greater man that Disney and that he should be marked as one of the 20th century's greatest ever men that was far more than just simply the manager of The Beatles. Finally on August 27th 2022, on the year that would have been his 92nd birthday, a bronze statue of Sir Brian Epstein was unveiled near the former site of his family's NEMS record shop in Liverpool in which would have him walking in the direction of the Cavern Club in which he would first meet The Beatles.
How future generations will view him and by extension the rest of The Beatles in the same glowing light as what this generation hold both in remains to be seen by while others would have a simple gravestone for a famous person who had passed on, Epstein doesn't need that in which the theme parks his created, the empire that is Apple Corps is his tribute that perhaps is far greater than what anyone can do for him and even people who use iApple computers or phones can all be traced back to Epstein showing that it seems future generations will all feel the fingerprints of Epstein in the years that are yet to follow. Finally, in what is perhaps one of Epstein's favourite ever lyrics from a Beatles song ever being from The End, are pretty much his outlook on life and that is the following that he would wish everyone would follow in troubled times:
And in the end,
The love you take,
Is equal to the love you make
Sir Brian Samuel EpsteinThe love you take,
Is equal to the love you make
1934 - 2018
....And that's it. The very last chapter of The Fingerprints of Epstein, this epic Beatles TL has finally come to an end. I'm actually stunned that it is finally over after all this time in which I never thought I'd ever do a Beatles TL as I only did this to give a world simply for my fantasy Beatles albums to exist and as you can see, it all became a little bit more than that to something I never thought it would become.
All I can say again is thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart who have followed this crazy journey from the start to this very point in which I'd actually complete this TL that I never thought I'd do but thanks to all your support, you have helped me get over the line to get it done and now I'm left in a state of shock of a case of 'now what?' I'll likely still tweak some bits of this TL over time as I have thought about someday if is possible to published this TL sometime in the near future yet I'm not sure where to begin on this factor but it is something to think about over time.
Anyway, It is something to say that this TL, perhaps the biggest Beatles TL here on this website, has come to an end and I just hoped that it was all worth it for all of those who were there from the start to read this TL. It has been a honour to entertain you all and hope it won't be long until I write up something new, any ideas what I could do next? Until then, goodbye all and thank you all.
Thank you so much for all you've done in this work. I adored every second of it and I can't wait to see what you do next. You spoke words of wisdom and now we'll let it be.Well then, this is it, the final ever chapter of TFOE. For many questions that you might ask about what happened later on ITTL well, lets all find out then as we go into this epilogue, or rather I should say Eppy-logue given who this TL is about really...
Eppy-Logue: 18 Years Later
2018; 18 years since that emotionally charged Concert For George in which had seen the surviving Beatles as well as many of George Harrison’s friends all coming together to present a show to say farewell to the fallen Beatle. It was also to mark the 50th anniversary of Apple Corps coming into existence in which had grown from its humble roots to becoming a global media empire that some would say could rival Disney and for good reason. With its impressive music catalogue, awarding winning film and animation departments that would give the best of America a run for their money, their electronics department which had now expanded from computers into phones such being the iApple phones and even iApple Ipads that half of the world's population now all seem to have showing how vast Apple's grip on the world has gotten and that is not mentioning the theme parks that Apple have dotted around the world which while perhaps not quite as extensive as say the likes of what Disney or Universal have to offer, Apple still feel like that they can compete with them.
As always, even after the ending of The Beatles, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney had both enjoyed that good old competitive rivalry in releasing their own solo albums throughout the years following the end of The Beatles in 2002 in which both would have great success with their respective albums and live tours though it was felt that while McCartney might've been the better live performer, Lennon would win out with perhaps the better albums. Regarding personal lives, the two men couldn't had been been very different in which following the death of Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney would have a rather troublesome aftermath in which he would marry former model and anti-landmine campaigner Heather Mills in which they would first meet in 2000 and would marry in 2002 yet John Lennon would express his concerns to his fellow bandmate that he was not comfortable with yet McCartney would shrug this off but alas as what everyone would know, the couple would divorce not longer after in 2008 being all well documented and sadly proving Lennon's doubts about her to be correct. It wouldn't be some years later in 2011 in which McCartney would marry Nancy Shevell in which thankfully would be a more stable affair with the couple still married after all this time.
If McCartney's love life had been a crazy tale of drama, John Lennon's love life in contrast had been a more relaxed affair in which despite two failed marriages prior, it had been truly third time lucky with May Lennon in which they would remain together ever since to the point that it would be rather boring to talk about other than the fact that their children Sean and Alice had both grown up as well rounded people with Sean being interested in music like his father while Alice would take up more of her father's political outlook though never to the extend of standing on soap box type mentally. Speaking of which, it would be that thanks to Alice Lennon that the families of the Lennon and Harrison clan would be bonded in which during 2007, Alice would start a relationship with Dhani Harrison, the son of the late George Harrison though the pair had, much like the rest of the other children of The Beatles all knew each other before hand with all the time they had been in the vicinity of a recording studio seeing their respective fathers record music. The couple would eventually become engaged and would marry in 2009 in a moment that would of course raise the attention of much of the press of seeing two quarters of The Beatles families coming together in what some might cry as nepotism at the highest order.
Despite some scepticism with the couple, they had remained together ever since and in 2012, the couple would have their first child, a girl called Louise who can boast for being the only person in the whole world to having both grandfathers as Beatles and who is to say what she might turn out to be like. In addition to this, Louise's birth marked the moment that both John and George (posthumous of course for the later) for being grandparents at last in which meant that finally all four Beatles could claim to having now grown into being grandparents showing how far that all four had come. In the years that had followed as what the remaining Beatles had stated, no new Beatles album had come out in that time other than the several remasters of anniversary edition albums being released over the years though they had had worked with each other on various solo projects with Paul McCartney and John Lennon still giving away songs to Ringo Starr for his albums like as before though nothing on the scale of a Beatles reunion was ever seriously discussed knowing that without Harrison, there was no point for it to happen.
That being said, the three remaining Beatles had now and then come together for special one-off shows such as in 2014 in which to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, they would perform on the television special called The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles with the audience as diverse from ages, music backgrounds and all sorts showing just how much The Beatles appealed to a whole generation. 2014 would also mark not just another Beatles reunion performance but also it being a true Merseybeat celebration being another TV special called Epstein At 80 which was an event filmed at the Liverpool Arena in September 2014 to mark Sir Brian Epstein’s 80th birthday. It would see a mega performance of almost every single Liverpool music act from the 1960’s onwards which other than just The Beatles (who would have the honours of closing out the show) featured the surviving members of Jerry and the Pacemakers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Atomic Kitten, Rebecca Ferguson and Echo & the Bunnymen just to name a few all of which were there to give tribute to the man himself there in attendance.
Other than music acts, other Liverpool actors and comics would all take turns hosting such as Ken Dodd, Paul McGann, Craig Charles and Ricky Tomlinson all singing Epstein’s praises and what he had done for Liverpool in terms of making the city perhaps the capital of pop music as what the late Michael Jackson would refer to the city as with many there all having in one way or the other to thank Epstein for his efforts. The event itself was in many ways Liverpool’s answer to the legendary Motown 25 performance in which with so many of Liverpool represented in that show, the likes of which would never be all seen again, and when during the closing act of Hey Jude in which every Liverpudlian act was on stage, Epstein would also be invited on stage to a standing ovation from the audience in which could be seen as Liverpool's greatest moment of sheer talent all in the same place together.
As such a historic moment of a show that it was, those seeing Epstein could see a man who with his greying hair and wrinkled face was a man past his prime and one that seemed to have a bittersweet look about him and in truth this was that by this point, Epstein had long since fallen out of love with the music business for over a decade now. The death of George Harrison had been a tough one for everyone at Apple Corps but Epstein seemed to have taken it badly more than perhaps the rest of the band. With Harrison being the youngest, and the fact that Epstein had been at the very start of The Beatles' rise to the top, it had all felt like a parent losing their child in which the joy had all but been snuffed out and Epstein knew that no matter whoever joined Apple's ranks in the following years, likely none of them would be able to recreate what The Beatles had done before; it was a foolish idea to ask him who would the next Beatles be as there would never be another Beatles.
In that time prior before and after Harrison's death, Epstein did still have to rubber stamp a music act to give his approval if they would be worthy enough to join Apple and there would be several of them joining. Perhaps the most unusual act would be the animated music group called Gorillaz, a creation of musician of long-time Apple colleague Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett which would go on to be the most successful animated group of all time and have been with Apple ever since, not to mention the creativity for both music and various animated skits and music videos all needed for the band all easily provided by Apple makes of a perfect match. That would be one of the last 'big' names that Epstein would approve on in the year 2000 in which after 2001 in the wake of Harrison's death, Epstein never had the same love of music ever again.
He would take a far more backseat role in which he would finally release his control on Apple Music in 2003 in which the British band McFly would be the final music act that Epstein would personally approve to the label, after that Jeff Jones would take up that role in overlooking Apple's music division. Epstein would admit some years after stepping down from watching over the music side of the company was that other than him not having the same love for it as before, he would admit his concerns of his fear of the music industry as a whole as more manufactured music has become more common in which music stars these days rarely, if ever, right their own music these days and with the rise of AI in music, his concerns seemed to have to become more apparent than ever and the future of Apple Music, the very foundation of Apple Corps is one that no one can really tell the future of in the coming years.
In contrast however, Epstein would turn his attentions more into the world of theme parks as like a well oiled machine, Apple Corps had now taken the whole business in their stride with not only their existing parks all improving and changing over the years, new ones would open up in which in 2004, the fourth Apple park would open its doors to the public. Formally known as Wonderland Sydney, Apple World Australia would open to the public and it was a dramatic transformation in ever sense of the word in which while it had all the usual traits from the other Apple parks, but this one would actually instead of a Myths and Legends area would instead have a whole Middle-Earth themed area based on the works of Apple's mega successful Lord of the Rings film trilogy though it did cause some controversary for those in New Zealand given how that they had filmed the whole trilogy in their country, the thought of the nearby Aussies getting their own Middle-Earth park when they did nothing to make that series of films wasn't something that didn't go down with many a Kiwi.
Nonetheless, the new park would be a major hit yet plans for further Apple parks weren't stopping there in which over the next few years, the hopes of having a park in both Africa or South America remain ongoing though these plans were rocked by the outbreak of the 2008 recession that would force these plans to be shelved for the time being. As the years went on as the world moved into the 2010s, Epstein's health began to fail in which he began to suffer from diabetes from as early as 2009 but would get worse and worse over time in which so much so, he would make the announcement in 2011 of finally stepping down as the chairman of Apple Corps after an epic length of time as chairman in order to focus on his health as well as finally enjoy his long overdue retirement. The question was who would replace him?
Epstein had made no secret of picking Steve Jobs for the role and would it not been for his untimely death in 2011, just as Epstein was retiring ironically, Jobs would have been made the chairman of Apple Corps. In the end, they would look outside of the company in which it would be British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe who would become the new chairman of Apple Corps who promised to keep the legacy of Apple going and has remained in that position ever since wanting to carry on Epstein's legacy but knows too well that he will likely never be like Epstein for what that man had created. For the man himself, the remaining few years would see Epstein live out the remaining days of his life peacefully in which he could reflect on the life he had lived though his diabetes would be a constant source of trouble for him as his appearances would be less frequent in which that 2014 appearance to appear in that show in his honour would show how he was looking rather poorly these days despite putting on a brave smile for all.
Though no longer on the main Board of Directors, he still held a considerable amount of clout being a major shareholder in the company still and would often still be asked for advice as such though he would insist to the new Apple Corps that whatever they did is that they should not mess around with politics and instead should focus on produce quality products for everyone to enjoy and in some ways this has been something that has been a worthwhile choice in which following the Walt Disney Company's recent list of failures that has seen it badly burnt following its push for so-called Identity Politics, many will argue that Apple Corps dodged a bullet and that many would argue that by the end of the 2020s if Disney still keeps shooting itself in the foot then Apple could overtake Disney as the biggest entertainment company on the planet.
An unthinkable idea that would have seemed like utter lunacy even as early as the early 2000s but then again a lot can happen in several years. That being said, Epstein would not be around to see if that prediction would become true for in 2018 as the company was celebrating its 50th birthday, Epstein's health began to worsen throughout the year to the point in which he had pretty much retired from public gatherings though had never officially announced it in order not to raise questions even though some did suspect that he wasn't well so thus, Epstein would remain at his home at Chapel Street in London; the very same home that some 51 years he had nearly died of an overdose, 51 years that might have all looked very different had he died then.
He would find himself bedridden for a lot of the time but still had a friendly face for those working for him asking them how they were doing and what was happening in the world but there would be times he would be wanting to sleep most days. On his 84th birthday on September 19th, he would invite the three remaining Beatles to his home for what was a private affair in which The Beatles would recall how their former manager was asking questions such as, "Did I do good?" or "Was I good leader?" to name a few though a more armoured piercing question would be, "Did I help George out for the better?" being of course about the late Harrison in which he had helped in those days of the White Album in which he had helped Harrison find his voice.
The other Beatles didn't know what to say to that other than agree that Epstein had done good and though they wouldn't quite know what to think of why he was acting like this though the truth was that Epstein knew that he had not long to live and just wanted this moment that if he was to die now, he wanted to see the band for one last time and if this was the last time he would see them, so be it as with hindsight, that meeting would be the very last time that The Beatles would see Epstein. Of course, he would linger on, still bedridden by the time October rolled around in which by the time October 5th came around, his health had worsened and there would be times he would slip in and out of consciousness and requested for the nurse to play the song In My Life from The Beatles' album Rubber Soul to be played. The nurse, confused by this, would grant Epstein's request and he would listen to the music lying there with the look of a man who was listening to the perfect song that was about reflection on life.
In that moment, he would have seen flashbacks for the life he had taken ranging from his early childhood, first meeting The Beatles, the rise and fall of Beatlemania, his near death, his adventures around the world, the formation of Apple Corps, the many other music acts signed, himself coming out and finally the death of George Harrison which meant the end of that famous band to now where Epstein was now. Reportedly, he would then ask the nurse over after the song had finished and asked, "Did I do good?" In which before the nurse could answer, Epstein's eyes closed and he stopped breathing. Sir Brian Samuel Epstein, the man behind The Beatles, sometimes known as the British Walt Disney or a true titan of entertainment or even an icon of some kind, had passed away peacefully and with that, it really was the end of an era.
Following the announcement of his death, tributes would pour in from across the world to say his praises and the life he had lived in which while Epstein might have been aware that others looked up to fondly, he too would have been shocked by how many mourned his passing. From musicians, actors, politicians and just anyone that was anyone would all say that Epstein was the true fifth Beatle who without him, there wouldn't be a Beatles or even a world that in some ways Epstein had created just went to show just how vast Epstein's legacy had endured. It wouldn't be until November 2nd that the funeral would take place in Liverpool in which was a city that had been left devasted by his passing in which the sense of loss was greatly felt in which they all knew that he had played a huge part in putting their city on the map as the centre of music and entertainment. The LGBT+ community in Liverpool would also be affected by his passing noting that even if he liked it or not, he was an icon that had been trailblazer that helped paved the way greater acceptance and understanding.
The funeral itself would be perhaps the closest event for a state occasion that the city would perform to, not even George Harrison could have had the same honours when he passed away. The funeral would take place at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in which for being such a grand and iconic venue meant that not only was it a fitting tribute to pay tribute for the man but also for the vast and diverse crowd of mourners in attendance and it really was a truly amazing who's who of the music world. While the obvious members there would be the three surviving Beatles and their families, in which all three would perform each a eulogy for Epstein, but also there would be others from Elton John, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and the surviving members of Queen as one would expect, everyone else was practically not just from the Apple label but from all others from outside the Apple family in which the likes of Madonna, Metallica Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 were just a handful of examples of who were there which just went to show how much Epstein had meant to everyone in the music industry.
To see such a huge collection of star power there to pay tribute to Epstein was a sight to behold in which the likes of which would perhaps never be seen again in which Liverpool really was in that moment the capital of music. It was an emotional day in which really was the passing of an age, an age that would likely never happy again and in the years following his death, Epstein had began to see a long retrospective on his life in which many felt that while the comparisons to Walt Disney were valid, many felt that perhaps he was an even greater man that Disney and that he should be marked as one of the 20th century's greatest ever men that was far more than just simply the manager of The Beatles. Finally on August 27th 2022, on the year that would have been his 92nd birthday, a bronze statue of Sir Brian Epstein was unveiled near the former site of his family's NEMS record shop in Liverpool in which would have him walking in the direction of the Cavern Club in which he would first meet The Beatles.
How future generations will view him and by extension the rest of The Beatles in the same glowing light as what this generation hold both in remains to be seen by while others would have a simple gravestone for a famous person who had passed on, Epstein doesn't need that in which the theme parks his created, the empire that is Apple Corps is his tribute that perhaps is far greater than what anyone can do for him and even people who use iApple computers or phones can all be traced back to Epstein showing that it seems future generations will all feel the fingerprints of Epstein in the years that are yet to follow. Finally, in what is perhaps one of Epstein's favourite ever lyrics from a Beatles song ever being from The End, are pretty much his outlook on life and that is the following that he would wish everyone would follow in troubled times:
And in the end,Sir Brian Samuel Epstein
The love you take,
Is equal to the love you make
1934 - 2018
....And that's it. The very last chapter of The Fingerprints of Epstein, this epic Beatles TL has finally come to an end. I'm actually stunned that it is finally over after all this time in which I never thought I'd ever do a Beatles TL as I only did this to give a world simply for my fantasy Beatles albums to exist and as you can see, it all became a little bit more than that to something I never thought it would become.
All I can say again is thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart who have followed this crazy journey from the start to this very point in which I'd actually complete this TL that I never thought I'd do but thanks to all your support, you have helped me get over the line to get it done and now I'm left in a state of shock of a case of 'now what?' I'll likely still tweak some bits of this TL over time as I have thought about someday if is possible to published this TL sometime in the near future yet I'm not sure where to begin on this factor but it is something to think about over time.
Anyway, It is something to say that this TL, perhaps the biggest Beatles TL here on this website, has come to an end and I just hoped that it was all worth it for all of those who were there from the start to read this TL. It has been a honour to entertain you all and hope it won't be long until I write up something new, any ideas what I could do next? Until then, goodbye all and thank you all.
Not sure yet, in the meantime likely a long break but there will be some tweaks and clean up done to this TL in the meantime so they'll be some subtle changes here and there.